tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56143811607335073572024-03-15T18:11:32.712-07:00Reflecting the Image (by Carla Sunberg)My posts come from my personal daily scripture readings and a part of my personal accountability. If we are going to grow as followers of Christ, we must be in the Word! If you miss these a few days, something has kept me from it; but if they're gone for too many days, call me on the carpet. We need to hold one another accountable. Join me on this journey as our lives are to Reflect the Image-and Jesus IS the image. Peace, Carla SunbergCarla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.comBlogger2509125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-41199301179621855472024-01-25T01:23:00.000-08:002024-01-25T01:23:52.545-08:00 How?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-nfNILC-ScbRWbDMqyIv1slaTuJlll2IApJBNnpMDLFbyA2USas4lBvFszqFge92AWOdgslhGCwMwJzPkuIIEpY75T8ERkitEcfx8xRmDisQEKGU3wMifpoKepw7g-Cyx7ZDyuLEG584pf2Gxjk_zWdVajZ9QPeCneOPkJVhj2cvA2IbQPmyZ8i4e6M/s4032/FullSizeRender.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-nfNILC-ScbRWbDMqyIv1slaTuJlll2IApJBNnpMDLFbyA2USas4lBvFszqFge92AWOdgslhGCwMwJzPkuIIEpY75T8ERkitEcfx8xRmDisQEKGU3wMifpoKepw7g-Cyx7ZDyuLEG584pf2Gxjk_zWdVajZ9QPeCneOPkJVhj2cvA2IbQPmyZ8i4e6M/s320/FullSizeRender.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students preparing for ministry in Madagascar. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 10:14</b> But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? <b><sup>15</sup></b> And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” <b><sup>16</sup></b> But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” <b><sup>17</sup></b> So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>18</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and their words to the ends of the world.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>19</sup></b> Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>20</sup></b> Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“I have been found by those who did not seek me;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>21</sup></b> But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul begins with a series of “how” questions, and they are all interconnected. They don’t know him; they’ve never heard of him; no one has ever told them about him, no one was sent to them. Therefore, how are they to believe? </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a need for those to be sent, and they are considered to have beautiful feet. However, even in their going, not everyone will respond. There must be a faith response to the words that are heard — and these are not to be the personal words of the speaker — but the words of Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then comes condemnation on those who have been privileged to hear. In Paul’s day, these were the people of Israel, and yet the words of the prophets seemed to ring true. The word was now going out to those who had not known God and were not seeking, but the Lord was being revealed among them. In loving Grace, God the Father had stretched out his arms towards his people day and night, but they did not respond. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Preaching about Jesus is not necessarily an easy task these days. In many parts of the world you will find opposition to this good news, and one has to wonder why. True Christianity will preach Jesus, and a call to Christlikeness. This is not a position of power, but one of humility in light of imitating Christ. The early church drew people to Christ because of the ways in which they lived their lives. The how had to do with caring for the sick, being a people of peace, maintaining sanctity in marriage between one and and one woman — for a lifetime, and caring for unwanted babies and children. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just yesterday I was talking to a believer who told me that they have now raised 15 children. This is not someone with an unusual amount of financial resources, but rather, someone who is called to live like Christ. They were telling my husband and me about their youngest daughter, who is now 11. They found her abandoned on the side of the road when she was just one year of age. She had been left for dead by her parents, who lived in a slum. They showed us a picture of her poor decimated body that they picked up and took to a local hospital, where she was declared dead. The believer father pled with the medical staff to do something and a nurse began CPR. The little girl took a breath and cried out — she was alive. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, they showed me a picture of this girl today. She is a beautiful and healthy girl, who hopes to one-day become a police officer. She has been adopted by the believers and is one of their 15 children, loved and supported by this entire family. I was humbled as I listened to their story, because they reflect Jesus everyday in everything that they do. How does their community know about Jesus? They know Jesus because they have seen this family reflecting the love of Christ day in and day out. And yes, they live in a place where it is becoming increasingly difficult for those who serve Jesus. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How will people know about Jesus? We are to have beautiful feet, and in our going, we are to be reflecting the image of the Lord through our words and our deeds. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, help me to have faith — and to go in your grace. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-68772964525951951132023-12-23T10:37:00.000-08:002023-12-23T10:37:29.345-08:00Our True Confession<p> </p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWC0FXO44P4-ew7gShBmwC0KKGvNamd4HxQBn_rcxVbp_AnM-QyQINd7JYrC8nUeKGx8wtE4JaaUelOkAb3I9Z1Q0w5nJOGewTiKU5OmVZxYuwfQ9YdiYDCsKr1eXuQo2tYmPawnjudU1LaWz5scyo_5yUMH5u1WgyJypkN7Xp0tS2lyzXNOG6UQ_7So/s4032/IMG_8490.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWC0FXO44P4-ew7gShBmwC0KKGvNamd4HxQBn_rcxVbp_AnM-QyQINd7JYrC8nUeKGx8wtE4JaaUelOkAb3I9Z1Q0w5nJOGewTiKU5OmVZxYuwfQ9YdiYDCsKr1eXuQo2tYmPawnjudU1LaWz5scyo_5yUMH5u1WgyJypkN7Xp0tS2lyzXNOG6UQ_7So/s320/IMG_8490.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Christmas recipe from my mom. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 10:5</b> Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” <b><sup>6</sup></b> But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) <b><sup>7</sup></b> “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). <b><sup>8</sup></b> But what does it say?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“The word is near you,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>on your lips and in your heart” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); <b><sup>9</sup></b> because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. <b><sup>10</sup></b> For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. <b><sup>11</sup></b> The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” <b><sup>12</sup></b> For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. <b><sup>13</sup></b> For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The law had been applied in rigid ways and instead of leading to the Messiah, it drove people further away from what God had really intended. Paul profoundly states in this passage that it is the true confession of Jesus as the Messiah that leads to salvation. It is in this incredible leap of faith, where one is justified. This salvation is for all of humanity, Jew and Greek alike — male and female, slave and free, including all the Gentiles. All who call on the name of the Lord, who declare this confession, will be saved. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The passion for evangelism seems to have died down, even among God’s people. Instead of seeing the need for people to declare that “Jesus is Lord,” we seem to believe that love allows, or even encourages people to continue to live a life without Christ. Or, we find that those who may need Christ, and even visit our church, disturb our sense of order and we’d rather not have them present. We may have lulled ourselves into believing that this is love, but it certainly is not. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Interestingly, over the last number of years a new movement has arisen called “The New Theists.” Ed West wrote about this recently in the <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/can-christianity-meme-itself-back-into-existence/" target="_blank">Spectator.</a> He discusses the fact that the period of Atheism has led to this new era where social science has discovered the benefits of Christianity. He is paraphrased here in <a href="https://www.theknowledge.com/2023/12/15/the-rational-case-for-being-a-christian/" target="_blank">The Knowledge</a>: </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The irony is that this same period coincided with a proliferation of studies “pointing to the benefits of religion”, on everything from child welfare to individual happiness and the suppression of anxiety. So a new intellectual movement sprang up in the 2010s making a simple point: whether or not religion is true, it’s useful, and Christianity has made the West unusually successful. Ideas of this kind have been around since at least the 18th century, probably longer, but the “New Theists”, as they might be called, have “social sciences to back them up”. Evolutionary psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that since human beings are “essentially irrational”, it makes sense that irrational beliefs are the most powerful for promoting social cohesion. When “New Atheist icon” Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently declared herself a Christian – because an atheistic West lacks the tools to fight radical Islam – she got in trouble “not because she had adopted irrational beliefs”, but because her reasons for doing so were too rational. She’s right, though. If millions of people returned to the Church, “whatever they felt inside”, there would be enormous social benefits. It’s worth a try.</span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, from a purely social science perspective, love would tell you to introduce people to Christ and Christianity because it results in a healthier way to live. That’s not what Paul was advocating, but it does challenge our notions of holy love. If I love my neighbor, I will desire the best for them. I don’t want them to have to continue living with the frustrations that they encounter on a regular basis, if I have the answer for them. I would want to lead them to a true confession. And remember, your closest neighbor is your family member!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My picture for today is a recipe my mom shared with the family. My nephew, Paul, sent it to me today. He has collected a number of my mother’s recipes and loves to cook and bake from them. The note at the bottom especially caught Paul’s attention. This woman’s life was changed because of an encounter with Jesus Christ. My mom led her to that confession at the dining room table at our home in Frankfurt, Germany. This woman, Katusha, went on to be my “German grandmother” and cared for me often as a small child. She even came to America to be my grandma at my wedding. Before my husband and I moved to Moscow, we stopped by Frankfurt to visit with her. It was at that time that she shared with me that she wasn’t German, but Russian. She had cared for me and sung to me lullabies in Russian from my infancy. (I believe that this allowed me to learn the language much easier than my dear husband!) She also said that she had prayed for thirty years that the church that came to Germany and led her to Jesus would someday go behind the Iron Curtain and tell her family about Jesus. In Moscow I met Magda Alexandrovna, her little sister, and yes — she came to Jesus and the same church. She also made her true confession. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Leading others to a true confession is a sign of holy love. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, may this season be one in which I help to point others in the direction of you. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-55112070681617834442023-12-16T07:19:00.000-08:002023-12-16T07:19:48.277-08:00 Believing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RG4ZnLhSwC9mGJr3sB59Rz_PRrg2fEFfH1-Aw0khAiUFI8tHxSCK_cPz50XZImozzh4cplQYY4MLly_05RKKztqohcm17PHR3kPnHq7zHSqCBf4JtTLhOOpxRIBoCmPb5KSEKMavPDTLIun2cLg55YNk1riQ3MagQZvUbxUa4Pa4bP0ZfHCx59z4XIE/s4032/IMG_5467.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RG4ZnLhSwC9mGJr3sB59Rz_PRrg2fEFfH1-Aw0khAiUFI8tHxSCK_cPz50XZImozzh4cplQYY4MLly_05RKKztqohcm17PHR3kPnHq7zHSqCBf4JtTLhOOpxRIBoCmPb5KSEKMavPDTLIun2cLg55YNk1riQ3MagQZvUbxUa4Pa4bP0ZfHCx59z4XIE/s320/IMG_5467.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alana enjoying a Christmas outing. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 10:1</b> Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. <b><sup>2</sup></b> I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. <b><sup>3</sup></b> For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. <b><sup>4</sup></b> For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After commenting on the stumbling block for the Jews, Paul goes on to become an intercessor. He does not believe that the Jews are beyond the reach of God’s grace. The Jews are filled with zeal, just as Paul had been. Wesley makes an interesting comment, “They had zeal without knowledge; we have knowledge without zeal” (Wesley Notes). More on that later. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul has recognized that the Jews fail to see the work of Christ as fulfilling the words of the law. Christ is the <i>telos</i>, or the goal of the law, not the law itself. The law should have led the Jews to the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah. Paul wants everyone to be saved, but for this they must believe. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are in the season of advent, leading up to Christmas, and it is a very special time. We have five little grandchildren, and for them, this season is magical. The joy in their faces as they absorb the wonder of Christmas is worth taking them to see lights and trees, and Christmas concerts. Their incredible faith and belief in all that they are soaking in reminds us of how we are to embrace the Messiah who entered this world to save us.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, we are still in need of being saved these days. There are many around us who do not believe in Jesus. Sadly, I’m afraid that we have become like the people that Wesley referenced. We have a lot of knowledge these days, but we certainly lack zeal. We seem to have become complacent and maybe so accepting that we no longer see Christ as the goal or the <i>telos</i>, for all of humanity. The reality is that if more would truly believe, I mean REALLY believe in Jesus as the Messiah, our world would be changed. This is not a conversion to Christianity, but a genuine transformational experience with the Messiah, believing that the Son of God came into the world to bring his hope and peace to us all. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To live as a reflection of Christ in this world is to be a true believer. Just as Jesus had zeal for the lost, so we are to be light in the dark corners of our world, having a zeal and passion for those who are yet to believe. That brings us back to this season, one in which we are drawn toward the Christ-child. Do you believe? I mean, do you really believe? The best gift this Christmas isn’t wrapped under the tree, but the baby laying in a manger. It’s time to believe!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, help my unbelief, and help me to live in light of your righteousness day after day, and year after year. Rekindle your zeal in my heart, and help me to intercede for those who are lost. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-90443336713243861592023-12-04T03:58:00.000-08:002023-12-04T03:58:28.772-08:00 Stumbling<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkC8x6Fs7IFnLFd59DGQTWUkKfmXMN9-LWLeW7NzTrUJG3YEQdgSEK3p2ocNGoljOALS2I273aLqYKHclRHmus5KFFaVev7p3aOkmFueqXY4C0hGV3-0FOZHyn0lcnNvCI1H6XlLZVJ0nn65eGznc5eYz2KxOneJxGCINHjraoL3YEoIO06H8e133f-MM/s4032/IMG_5473.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkC8x6Fs7IFnLFd59DGQTWUkKfmXMN9-LWLeW7NzTrUJG3YEQdgSEK3p2ocNGoljOALS2I273aLqYKHclRHmus5KFFaVev7p3aOkmFueqXY4C0hGV3-0FOZHyn0lcnNvCI1H6XlLZVJ0nn65eGznc5eYz2KxOneJxGCINHjraoL3YEoIO06H8e133f-MM/s320/IMG_5473.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little Alana was so enamored by the <br />baby in the mirror! We could hardly<br />pull her away. </td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 9:30</b> What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; <b><sup>31</sup></b> but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. <b><sup>32</sup></b> Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, <b><sup>33</sup></b> as it is written,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Suddenly Paul’s conversation shifts to one about faith. None of us are deserving of righteousness, and there is nothing that we can do to earn this righteousness either. By trying too hard, Israelites were stumbling. Their over-zealous desire to follow the law took their eyes away from Yahweh, the one who had given them the law. The rules became more important than the reasons behind them, or the relationship with the rule-giver. That’s where faith comes in. Faith is trusting in the One who brings the rules, but by not seeking the face of God, they stumbled over the cornerstone. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the biggest trends these days is taking “selfies.” However, the result of taking selfies, is the potential to stumble. Wikipedia tells us:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Transportation"><span style="color: #dca10d;">United States Department of Transportation</span></a> estimated that in 2014, the so-called "year of the selfie", 33,000 people were injured while driving and using a cell-phone in some fashion, which can include talking, listening, and "manual button/control actuation". A 2015 survey by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Insurance_Group"><span style="color: #dca10d;">Erie Insurance Group</span></a> found that 4% of all drivers admitted to taking selfies while driving.</span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Taking selfies while driving?! Where is that going to lead us? The data is lagging, but from 2008-2021, there are 359 recorded deaths which occurred while people were taking selfies. Talk about stumbling — this is stumbling to your death, and sometimes it occurred while the individual was live-streaming. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As our world and culture embraces secular humanism, it’s as if we have lifted up a giant camera and focused it on ourselves. The view of the rest of the world is obliterated by the camera in front of our faces. We can no longer see the face of our Creator, for all we want to see is a better picture of ourself. And we will stumble. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul wasn’t talking about selfies, but he was talking about the written law which became so important to the Jews that it obscured their vision of the coming Messiah. They absolutely could not see him because they were too busy keeping the rules in front of their faces, and the faces of those within their communities. They constantly challenged their people to be keeping the rules, and they stumbled. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What might we stumble on today? Maybe we need to examine our lives, hearts and minds, and determine whether there is anything blocking our relationship with Christ — or quite possibly becoming a stumbling block to others. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I think it’s easier to become a stumbling block than we might imagine. Help me to live by faith, seeking your face every day. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-42854308798279631152023-11-17T07:04:00.000-08:002023-11-17T07:04:00.618-08:00 We are all God’s children!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBiab1mKQ_TpHCol4RJuGsUbYXIDYP9eqVqzvExEB6O3YTSwJXs6FlMvkjcpXf69Qc3xNtWRRuJK9PZY1D97Qga2alhyphenhyphenwlIyfnYYz0WpM5NXByAy30p3IH4ZL4P2Fh79Cc3Pnm6fYwrTHVtGofp1oJhUoNTZugdTADoODVvStSxHohVRhHNDT-aJi0ss/s2048/99f5bffd-3c88-400f-bca2-d18986bee5d0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBiab1mKQ_TpHCol4RJuGsUbYXIDYP9eqVqzvExEB6O3YTSwJXs6FlMvkjcpXf69Qc3xNtWRRuJK9PZY1D97Qga2alhyphenhyphenwlIyfnYYz0WpM5NXByAy30p3IH4ZL4P2Fh79Cc3Pnm6fYwrTHVtGofp1oJhUoNTZugdTADoODVvStSxHohVRhHNDT-aJi0ss/s320/99f5bffd-3c88-400f-bca2-d18986bee5d0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old Roman theater in the center of Catania. Throughout<br />the ruins of the Roman Empire we find the influence of many nations. The Gospel<br />was for all. <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 9:19</b> You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” <b><sup>20</sup></b> But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” <b><sup>21</sup></b> Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? <b><sup>22</sup></b> What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction; <b><sup>23</sup></b> and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— <b><sup>24</sup></b> including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? <b><sup>25</sup></b> As indeed he says in Hosea,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>26</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>there they shall be called children of the living God.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul uses the imagery of pottery to help us understand the mercy of God. God is the potter, and the potter shapes and forms his creation. Certain members of the human race cannot claim that they are any more special than another — for the creator has made them all. Some have a particular purpose, and others another, but all are called by God to share in his glory. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have a sister-in-law who is a potter and she makes such beautiful pieces. Check her out at Dirt to Dishes <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dirttodishes"><span style="color: #dca10d;">https://www.facebook.com/dirttodishes</span></a>. From coffee mugs to dishes to Christmas ornaments, she uses her talent to shape beautiful pieces, however, not every piece is the same. Some are larger, others are small, some have small imperfections, and yet — every piece is lovingly made by her hands. The pieces of pottery don’t get to decide that suddenly they don’t want to be a mug but would rather be an ornament on the tree. Each piece is valued and has their place. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus called his disciples to be perfect — and perfection is to fulfill the purpose for which WE have been created — each one of us — unique and beautiful in the eyes of the creator. We may be frustrated with what has been put into us, and wish we had been shaped differently. We may not like what’s baked into our DNA and yet, we are special and unique in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. The Apostle Paul spoke of his thorn in the flesh — something that was baked into him — that he didn’t like. He asked God to take it from him, over and over again — but it didn’t happen. Paul was who he was — and he was to live into the purpose for which he had been created — which was to glorify God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul was dealing with Jews and Gentiles — all of whom God had created. For the Jews it was hard to imagine that the promise of God had been extended to those who would have been considered, “Not my people.” The gracious hand of the creator has been extended to Jew and Gentile alike — and there is no longer a distinction. The master creator says you are now all my beloved!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, who are we, as your creation, to question your mercy? I pray that we will embrace one another as children of the living God. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-59900073159454383842023-11-16T02:30:00.000-08:002023-11-16T09:04:19.890-08:00 Divine Purposes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYalM67Vrx2fgtxHPAaLapTmTJc73SjcRrCUKV4se4TSLrgvcxGlKhdVBd09X9Ee19zGYzShlyZFULw4h6mYp6pI2tQvS2teQZdvGeecm63kmDARKlnkwbSlHdRM-6Ml0EdwEytt_XCO-DrKkKiCiIegwO8pzLMYDZwygDmRDcblYCwjrUomYCqai6cg/s4032/IMG_5298.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYalM67Vrx2fgtxHPAaLapTmTJc73SjcRrCUKV4se4TSLrgvcxGlKhdVBd09X9Ee19zGYzShlyZFULw4h6mYp6pI2tQvS2teQZdvGeecm63kmDARKlnkwbSlHdRM-6Ml0EdwEytt_XCO-DrKkKiCiIegwO8pzLMYDZwygDmRDcblYCwjrUomYCqai6cg/s320/IMG_5298.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Church of the Nazarene in Versailles. </td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 9:14</b> What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! <b><sup>15</sup></b> For he says to Moses,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>16</sup></b> So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. <b><sup>17</sup></b> For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” <b><sup>18</sup></b> So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For those of us in the Wesleyan/Arminian world, this passage can be a bit of a challenge, but it is not the only place where Paul talks about these kinds of divine purposes. He will go on in other passages to talk about the free will of humanity. Overall, we can wrap our arms around the fact that Paul wants us to understand that “God has determined to treat humans on the basis of mercy; otherwise none would be saved” (Greathouse & Lyons, NBBC). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Overall, we must come to understand that God is just! However, God is not only just, but also merciful, and full of compassion. We must be careful not to judge and/or determine on whom God will show compassion. That is not for us to determine, but it is to be left to God. Wesley puts it this way, “I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion—Namely, on those only who submit to my terms, who accept of it in the way that I have appointed. God has an indisputable right to reject those who will not accept the blessings on his own terms. So then—That is, accordingly he does show mercy on his own terms, namely, on them that believe. And whom he willeth—Namely, them that believe not. He hardeneth—Leaves to the hardness of their hearts” (Wesley, Notes). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, we are brought to the example of Pharaoh, “Pharaoh exists not to further his political or personal ends, but God’s. And God’s ends are theological—to carry out a mighty act of salvation in order that this might be publicized throughout the world. On the stage of world history, Pharaoh provided the occasion for God’s deliverance of his people Israel; if there were no Pharaoh, there would be no people of God” (Greathouse & Lyons, NBBC). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As a little girl I used to ponder some of these questions about God. Especially, I wondered about Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. It bothered me to think that God had made Judas do what he did — and then punished him for it, if Judas had no choice in the matter. Then, one day as I was flying in a plane, I had a bit of an epiphany. From up in the air, I could see the roads below. It meant that I can see if two semi trucks were both on the same side of the road, but each going in a different direction. I could see that there would be a head-on collision because of having a birds-eye view of the situation — but just because I could see what was going to happen, it didn’t mean that I would have caused it to happen. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This led me to an understanding that God has a birds-eye view of what is happening in the world. He could see that Judas was heading down a pathway of self-destruction, a path of his own making, but God could also see where it was leading. Just like Pharaoh, the result of the continual rejection of God was a hardened heart. Therefore, God’s divine purposes were accomplished. I also have to believe that had Judas responded to God’s mercy and grace, someone else who had hardened their heart, would have taken his place. God didn’t make it happen — but he saw it coming. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ultimately, what we also learn from this scripture is that God does have divine purposes in mind in the activities of history. God knew that Pharaoh had a hard heart and so God used him to establish the Israelites. God used him for divine purposes to reveal his power and authority over his people. God was ultimately glorified. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As we look at the world around us, we may wonder whether there are divine purposes at work. Just as the news tells us that a volcano is rumbling beneath Iceland, so there is a geo-political volcano that seems to be smoldering, and possibly waiting for a larger eruption. We may be tempted to ask where God is in the midst of all of this, and yet, God is watching, and God has divine purposes. Those purposes may be difficult for us to grasp, but we are to trust God. At the same time, we are never to allow our hearts to be hardened. God is constantly reaching out to us in divine mercy and compassion, and we have the choice to respond, but we are not to judge God’s compassion. We may be oddly surprised at those on whom God showers his mercy — but that is not up to us. His divine purposes must allow us to rest in the belief that God has all of this. He sees it and knows what is happening — while at the same time being engaged as a loving and just Heavenly Father. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, may I trust in you today, in the seen and the unseen. There is always more at work than we can comprehend. Forgive us for when we try to explain the mystery of your ways with inadequate words, or when we try to “fix” things on our own. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-60034549305624819222023-10-29T02:25:00.003-07:002023-10-30T00:44:16.962-07:00 Lament and Declaration<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyktef1fO-UOsHdFTOmk1ShXWrKZtEpY79z81FRQWYWGXsFNetqhvFcTfk7i6NyPMSE9KpPtBVcWnMOZv5o7OQylKazGqwot9lgIL_imhSVlwhXkv-9TTJwQ3nDDy3FnUTDnm15o62LLsYAP8EDWlUR1ens13liq7rNZuISF1slfFHosqvO-Qs7_2lYI/s4032/IMG_4950.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyktef1fO-UOsHdFTOmk1ShXWrKZtEpY79z81FRQWYWGXsFNetqhvFcTfk7i6NyPMSE9KpPtBVcWnMOZv5o7OQylKazGqwot9lgIL_imhSVlwhXkv-9TTJwQ3nDDy3FnUTDnm15o62LLsYAP8EDWlUR1ens13liq7rNZuISF1slfFHosqvO-Qs7_2lYI/s320/IMG_4950.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humanitarian aid through NCM in Armenia will<br />be distributed to the new refugees. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 9:1</b> I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— <b><sup>2</sup></b> I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. <b><sup>3</sup></b> For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. <b><sup>4</sup></b> They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; <b><sup>5</sup></b> to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As Paul wrote to the church in Rome, he was in anguish over God’s people. His words echo those of Jeremiah:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Jer. 4:19</b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Oh, the walls of my heart!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My heart is beating wildly;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I cannot keep silent;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>for I hear the sound of the trumpet,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the alarm of war.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>20</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Disaster overtakes disaster,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the whole land is laid waste.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Suddenly my tents are destroyed,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>my curtains in a moment.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>21</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How long must I see the standard,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and hear the sound of the trumpet?</span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>22</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“For my people are foolish,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>they do not know me;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>they are stupid children,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>they have no understanding.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>They are skilled in doing evil,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>but do not know how to do good.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul’s desperation for people to know Christ is evident. Just as he was zealous before, when it came to persecuting Christians, he is now desirous for all, both Jew and Gentile to come to Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul moves from lament to declaration, with his final sentence. This is a powerful Christologic statement regarding the Messiah — “who is over all, God blessed forever.” Jesus is the Messiah, the One who was to come from Israel, and ultimately, he has all power and authority, he is God, and blessed forever. He ends with an “Amen.” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How quickly Paul moves from lament to to declaration. There is so much in this world that we can lament today. There is war — seemingly, everywhere. The Middle-East is ablaze with humanity struggling against humanity. And we wonder, along with Jeremiah, whether the people no longer know God — on all sides of the conflict! And just maybe that’s the issue everywhere — we lament that God’s children do not know the Father, or the Son. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are all God’s children, and our Father is reaching out to us all, across borders and war zones, wanting to draw us back into his loving embrace. As brothers and sisters, we are to love one another, sharing what we have to help in our times of trouble. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, what does a declaration have to do with this? It’s a powerful reminder that Paul doesn’t end with lament, but with a profound understanding that Jesus is the Messiah, and he is God! Therefore, when we look at the rumblings around the world, from Ukraine, to Armenia, to the Middle-East — we must be reminded that God is still on the throne. We shift our gaze from the earthly to the heavenly, and begin to participate in holy prayers, moaning and groaning for the pain of humanity, seeking to know the mind of Christ in the midst of such agony. We declare that the powers of this world do not have the ultimate victory, nor are they the saviors of this world. Jesus, alone, is our Savior — and we join with the Apostle Paul in the declaration that the Messiah “is over all, God blessed forever.” Amen!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, our hearts are broken by what is happening in our world. We cry out in lament over the pain and suffering, and yet, we declare that you are our Lord! Help us, Lord, as Christians, to be your instruments of peace in this world — for your glory. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-88871864017484364722023-09-29T07:10:00.003-07:002023-09-29T07:10:49.589-07:00 God For Us, Christ In Us<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR7FDFRt8SeKvqaXrF6fSairoC-f7rXfSNPylExYM28VChyphenhyphenA6FHx0xJF4MeC3aHQtrTv-0l4CQOoroX8EwZbwWqbw_MVVanzSCKbaIFHuGPc-PSzNGG3pxRkt1lTUFqQvEtsd5_R0vwDAkCDVPa4KnPts-SaQ7OobqnJcBBVnENDzuJABJeyzdiM7UT4/s863/52ffd64f-d9b6-4e59-ade0-96bad7643fb0%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="863" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR7FDFRt8SeKvqaXrF6fSairoC-f7rXfSNPylExYM28VChyphenhyphenA6FHx0xJF4MeC3aHQtrTv-0l4CQOoroX8EwZbwWqbw_MVVanzSCKbaIFHuGPc-PSzNGG3pxRkt1lTUFqQvEtsd5_R0vwDAkCDVPa4KnPts-SaQ7OobqnJcBBVnENDzuJABJeyzdiM7UT4/s320/52ffd64f-d9b6-4e59-ade0-96bad7643fb0%20(1).jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recently I was in Kolkata, India. A group of us went to <br />visit the grave of Ralph Blackman, a Nazarene <br />missionary who died of small pox, nearly 100 years ago. His<br />grandson, Franklin Cook would go on to lead the Eurasia Region years later. <br />I believe this missionary knew that nothing could separate him from the <br />love of Christ. <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 8:31</b> What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? <b><sup>32</sup></b> He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? <b><sup>33</sup></b> Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. <b><sup>34</sup></b> Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.<i><sup>a</sup></i> <b><sup>35</sup></b> Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? <b><sup>36</sup></b> As it is written,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“For your sake we are being killed all day long;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>37</sup></b> No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. <b><sup>38</sup></b> For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, <b><sup>39</sup></b> nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul is now referring back to Chapters 5-8, and poses rhetorical questions. He is reminding us in verses 31-34 that God is for us. It is through the work of Jesus Christ, God’s son, that we have been provided with everything that we need to get through this life. In the end, judgement will come, but any indictment brought against us will fail, for we have been justified by the work of Christ, who will answer for any charge brought against us. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The second part of this, verses 35-39, celebrates the love of God, in Christ, for us. Here we see that separating us from the love of God is as impossible as bringing a charge against us. Even though we may face suffering, we are conquerers because of the one who loves us. Although we may face spiritual warfare, we cannot be separated from God’s love. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can separate us from the new regime where God’s love in Christ reigns over us and our lives. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This formula of “God for us” and “Christ in us” should be quite transformational in our lives. Paul certainly found this to be true as he faced many difficulties in life. He was speaking from experience when he mentioned death, life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come, power, heigh, depth — etc. that were simply unable to separate him from the love of God. Why? Because he knew that God was for him, and Christ was in him. This was the glue that held his life together. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The focus of Paul’s life was not on his circumstances, but on his relationship with God in Christ. When numerous challenges are thrown at us with rapid speed, it’s easy to get our eyes off of the Lord. Suddenly it is the reality of death, or new life, or the worry of things that will come that can take us off track. I went through a season in my life where I thought that good leadership was thinking through every possible outcome in the situation, good or bad. The problem with that was, it took so much energy imagining every bad outcome and a possible solution, that it took away my focus on what was important. I realized that I had to step back and allow myself to think on the Lord, and his leading in all things, and yes, even to allow myself the joy of thinking about the good outcomes. After this time I read a book in which it said that this strategy of thinking through the outcomes sets us up for failure, because the chance that the worst case scenario comes true is minute. Too much time and energy go into the negatives, and not enough on the positives. Paul wants us to see the positive in life — even when it is a huge challenge. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We live our lives differently when we rest in the confidence that God is for us and Christ is in us. In the midst of demanding circumstances we can trust in the love of the Lord to see us through. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I praise you that your love is greater than anything that I might face this day. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-54969879595217385852023-09-13T06:36:00.000-07:002023-09-13T06:36:01.072-07:00 All Things<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipw-NnzzV2AlzM6LPOAfwRcrdub8K38gnDxzyrUvC2QSIqXz9jK5aumIYLMxgE2CJs7VKJBZcbZ3-IDazGARxPBYqrSQYEdVoJ0ZirBpwf4wfS2nHKnzZ36xy1YwbHl7dz_3AqB85m0KxiqNAolUveMfjK-55w_Xt-iow1jTia0o0PuV6u3LxHDyZf9U/s4032/IMG_4806.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipw-NnzzV2AlzM6LPOAfwRcrdub8K38gnDxzyrUvC2QSIqXz9jK5aumIYLMxgE2CJs7VKJBZcbZ3-IDazGARxPBYqrSQYEdVoJ0ZirBpwf4wfS2nHKnzZ36xy1YwbHl7dz_3AqB85m0KxiqNAolUveMfjK-55w_Xt-iow1jTia0o0PuV6u3LxHDyZf9U/s320/IMG_4806.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had a layover in Manchester and HAD to spend<br />the day with these two! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 8:28</b> We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. <b><sup>29</sup></b> For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. <b><sup>30</sup></b> And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul begins this phrase so emphatically — “We know!” This is a man who has been through struggle after struggle, and yet, he has the confidence to believe that there is a divine purpose for everything and everyone whom he has encountered in life. And that’s the point isn’t it — it’s a divine purpose. The ways of God are much higher than the ways of humankind, and this is an invitation to reflect upon the ways of God. This life that we live in the flesh is but a flicker in time. We hold onto the things of this world far too tightly, making it often difficult to see the divine purpose. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every human being is stamped with the image of God, and it is God’s purposeful plan and desire that we would all be a reflection of that image. Christ has made this possible through his incarnation. Chrysostom puts it this way, “What a superb honor! For what the only begotten Son was by nature, we have become by grace. Christ in his human nature has become the firstborn of many brethren, even though in his divine nature he remains the only begotten” (Homilies on Romans). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This passage has been used to suggest that only a certain few are predestined to come to Christ. No, we are all marked with the image of God, and therefore, through prevenient grace God is constantly reaching out to all of humanity. We are all called to follow him. It is because of this calling that we may be justified. Yes, our sins can be made right because of the work of Christ. We can stand in faith, justified before our Lord. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, the good is revealed in glorification. While for some, there may be an experience of glorification in this life, we know that we will be glorified in the life to come. However, every time Christ is lifted up, he is glorified in and through each one of us. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This passage has been used and misused throughout Christian history. Any time we as humans utilize this passage to manipulate a situation, it is misused. It’s also been used to try and comfort those who are in the midst of grief. There is a time and a season for grieving. Paul wasn’t always happy about his circumstances, and there were times that he genuinely complained. However, he also took the time to try and find the good in what was happening in his life. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just the other day I was having a conversation with my brother about a particular personal circumstance. We both almost laughed out loud when he said, “Well, maybe God was in the midst of that decision!” Well yes — why would we be surprised that God may have been in the midst of a decision years ago that brings us to a particular place in this day? At the time the decisions were being made, they didn’t necessarily feel good, and there was a season of darkness and distress. I think the reminder from Paul is that when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, we are to hold on and persevere. Paul doesn’t leave us without any handles for our troubles, but instead, he leaves us with Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Far too often we fail to read past verse 28. That verse only stands on the humble activity of Christ who came in human flesh so that the image of God could be restored in all of us. Maybe the good of God in verse 28 is what is revealed in the glorification of verse 30. For God’s children, all things will lead us to glory, whether we understand them in this lifetime, or not. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, we hang onto the truth of <i>all things</i>, even in anxious times. We trust in you, as you lead us through to eventual glory. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-62769479939651163752023-08-25T09:39:00.001-07:002023-08-25T09:43:12.623-07:00 When We are Weak<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhSTLeFZNCHlJP8ei1YzOzuT8S1Qd70x9oXeoYsz18lPDq3hyawqBnfLJceJoRKWGYtfY9II9Pmnu6Dx1OWFOYftyPK8_BhLqDx_ZpuaGFiQFWP8aqLg5Z1VjiLXvRN-dplL24bAoSuW6Or0MOCmcnK19f70IGZhwMTy8DsYdtGiZr3-n3zr4MYsuOtg/s4032/IMG_9110.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhSTLeFZNCHlJP8ei1YzOzuT8S1Qd70x9oXeoYsz18lPDq3hyawqBnfLJceJoRKWGYtfY9II9Pmnu6Dx1OWFOYftyPK8_BhLqDx_ZpuaGFiQFWP8aqLg5Z1VjiLXvRN-dplL24bAoSuW6Or0MOCmcnK19f70IGZhwMTy8DsYdtGiZr3-n3zr4MYsuOtg/s320/IMG_9110.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 8:26</b> Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. <b><sup>27</sup></b> And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are times in life when our weaknesses overwhelm our strengths. We have tried to do as much as we can within our own power and ability, but at that moment, there is an awareness of the need for Divine intervention. When it feels as if all hope is gone, we don’t know how to pray, but that is the beauty of this passage. When we are at a loss for words, the Spirit is not. With an ability to empathize with us in our deepest pain, the Spirit breathes out what our soul cannot speak. In that moment, the Father, who knows our motivations does not judge, but pours out his holy love on us, because the Spirit has revealed our mind to him. In our moments of incapacitation, the Spirit will continue to intercede for us, in line with God’s will. In our weakness, we will not be led astray, if remain dependent upon the Lord. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Intercessory prayer is vital to the life of a Christian community. As I write this note this morning, my home church will just be completing a session of 24 hour prayer. They have established a prayer room in the church where every few months they challenge the people of the church to sign up and pray in that place for a whole day. It is a beautiful experience to enter that space that has been prepared as an altar before the Lord. To simply enter the room is to sense the presence of the Lord. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">John Chrysostom wrote that it was not uncommon for the gift of prayer to enter one person in a local church and it was the place of that person to intercede on behalf of the entire community. We need people who will live into their gifting as a person of prayer. The reality is that every believer needs to have a vital prayer life, but there are those who are gifted in this way, who seem to be able to touch heaven with their prayers. Oh that we would have intercessors who would groan on behalf of those who are not able! </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The reality is that we are weak, and every Christian has their infirmities. We would be overpowered by our weaknesses if it were not for the presence of the Holy Spirit. We come into communion with the Holy Spirit through prayer, and this is transformational and powerful. It is our weaknesses that tempt us to pray for things which may not be healthy for us. That’s why we need the Spirit to help us. Origen said it this way, “Whenever the Holy Spirit sees our spirit struggling with the flesh and being drawn to it, he stretches out his hand and helps us in our weakness” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans). Theodore of Cyr went on to say, “Do not think that you will be set free by things which are harmful. You do not know what is good for you in the way that God does. Therefore, give yourselves to him who holds the key to the universe. For even if you ask nothing but merely groan under the impulse of the grace which dwells in you, he handles your affairs wisely and will ensure that you get what you need” (Interpretation of the Letter to the Romans). The Spirit intercedes so that we get what we need, not necessarily what we want!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The weaknesses of the flesh can become overwhelming for us all. Thankfully the Spirit understands and remains steadfast in intercession for us, never taking a break, and continually sustaining. The Spirit sets the example for believers who need to find themselves within a community where there are intercessors, who will not let them down. This is a revelation of God’s holy love found in the Triune God. This is love overflowing and abounding, meeting us through the community of faith, and the community of God, in our moment of deepest need. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I need thee, oh I need thee — every hour I need thee! Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-36000966237037671862023-08-13T05:46:00.005-07:002023-08-13T05:47:41.087-07:00 Sufferings and Glory<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wzaUyODG3fv7h3Iijv9gaVNPYogcCkKHMAz617K-6RhEa-LxY6PaBwaEQmvO5-EsTNpCbMmcpylhqDBayVJQfk2NHrxyP1Jig73aWmeLmV7X5zvSAKmCbQQMV7l9wb2beJbMpS04O_8XwwMj5InCga7cGIoAaePlwTYF1zl9HkYZCcfuB7ZlvqIj9cY/s2647/IMG_4498%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2647" data-original-width="1307" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wzaUyODG3fv7h3Iijv9gaVNPYogcCkKHMAz617K-6RhEa-LxY6PaBwaEQmvO5-EsTNpCbMmcpylhqDBayVJQfk2NHrxyP1Jig73aWmeLmV7X5zvSAKmCbQQMV7l9wb2beJbMpS04O_8XwwMj5InCga7cGIoAaePlwTYF1zl9HkYZCcfuB7ZlvqIj9cY/s320/IMG_4498%20(1).jpeg" width="158" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We may all wish we were superman --<br />but we're not. Trust in the Lord!</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 8:18</b> I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. <b><sup>19</sup></b> For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; <b><sup>20</sup></b> for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope <b><sup>21</sup></b> that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. <b><sup>22</sup></b> We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; <b><sup>23</sup></b> and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. <b><sup>24</sup></b> For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? <b><sup>25</sup></b> But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul notes that suffering is a part of the Christian journey. Much of human suffering has to do with the suffering of all of creation because the glory of God is to be revealed in the restoration of all things. This includes all of creation, which has become subjected to decay as a result of humanity’s perversion of their “God-given responsibility of dominion (1:21) into exploitation and self-aggrandizement” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC).</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We groan inwardly from the struggle, but are still drawn toward hope. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I like to avoid suffering as much as possible. I’m guessing that we all do. We would prefer for things in life to go smoothly and for there to be no bumps along the road. Unfortunately, in this world, Jesus told us that we we would have trouble — but to take heart, he has overcome the world. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We live, leaning into a future hope, where there will be the restoration of all things. We may not be able to see it now, but that is faith combined with hope. We live, in anticipation of future glory. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some days, that’s what we have to hold onto. And Paul reminds us — to do it with patience.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, as your children, struggling in a fallen world, help us to continually seek you and lean into your hope. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-52681154748777407662023-07-18T05:20:00.000-07:002023-07-18T05:20:03.342-07:00Abba! Father!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgNx6Lze2HqeeXI-Q74dZiJYbC3tji0M6xTYCufGQzjArHGyME3zxDJRiXZw2_a2gNJQ7DAiPTuY1cdYLwoXO0mndctry8SZbfLGfqZlT9tUONXBeuXK1pw_k292h0yM7WxBoOAMmK_cCQETSfacHJ6wXOJMtRS6tkGmKvbu6t5CoYCWoeznv2KZc5LA/s1600/f20d9396-8ace-4a2f-8b81-de2526d26298.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgNx6Lze2HqeeXI-Q74dZiJYbC3tji0M6xTYCufGQzjArHGyME3zxDJRiXZw2_a2gNJQ7DAiPTuY1cdYLwoXO0mndctry8SZbfLGfqZlT9tUONXBeuXK1pw_k292h0yM7WxBoOAMmK_cCQETSfacHJ6wXOJMtRS6tkGmKvbu6t5CoYCWoeznv2KZc5LA/s320/f20d9396-8ace-4a2f-8b81-de2526d26298.jpeg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The love of my dad encouraged me to <br />embrace the love of my Heavenly Father. <br />This is a fun meal with him -- about a year before<br />he passed away. <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 8:12</b> So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— <b><sup>13</sup></b> for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. <b><sup>14</sup></b> For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. <b><sup>15</sup></b> For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” <b><sup>16</sup></b> it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, <b><sup>17</sup></b> and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The “So then” stands out, as Paul is reaffirming the Romans as “brothers and sisters.” This is the fourth time that he has addressed them in this way, and this is highly significant. Whether a Roman, or whether a Jew, we are called to be a part of one family, a family in which we do not live by the flesh, but by the Spirit. It is the Spirit within that creates the family resemblance and unites those who are dissimilar in the flesh to become One in the Spirit. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Living in the Spirit means that we don’t live in slavery to our physical bodies. What we may have inherited in the flesh can be transformed by the presence of the Spirit. In Paul’s mind, there is no such thing as a half-hearted Christian who uses the desires of the flesh as an excuse for limited participation in God’s kingdom. “Since justification and sanctification are inseparable in the divine economy, the lowest degree of obedience expected of us as God’s children is the highest degree of which we are capable at any moment” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). A person who is born-again, is to live a new life through the Spirit in anticipation of the resurrection, and this changes everything. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In many ways the climax of this passage is verse fifteen when he says, “we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” The intentionality of the use of language may be lost on us. “Abba” is the Aramaic term, which would have been used by the Jews of the day, and “Father” is written in Greek, which would have been used by those of Roman society. Paul is covering his bases and making sure that all of his readers understand the inclusivity of the phrase. The invitation into the family is for everyone — Jew and Greek alike. Adoption into God’s family is the greatest gift, and the Spirit bears witness that we may all become children of God. The infilling with the Spirit provides the family resemblance, as we no longer live by the flesh, but as joint heirs with Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last week my husband and I had the privilege of attending the funeral of a friend from our missionary days. More than twenty five years ago, we all served together in Eurasia. Interestingly, those of us who came to the funeral talked about how we felt like family. We had all be put together, in a certain moment in history, to become a family that was serving God together. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At that time the Berlin Wall had just come down and much of Europe was in a season of transformation. Just twenty to thirty years ago we didn’t have the ability to communicate to family and friends “back home” like we do today. A long-distance call cost a small fortune and so we had to rely upon those who were within physical proximity to become “family.” As we celebrated the life of Jan Weisen, the “family” gathered. While his biological family was present, there was this small sub-group, the Eurasia family that also came together. Time after time we used familial language with one another, until we finally realized that during that season of life, we had become like family. Just like family we had the “lore” to share, and it was the common experiences that shaped us into this most unlikely unit. We are not of the same nationality, nor do we share a common mother-tongue, and yet, we had been knit together by a moment in time that created a bond that went much deeper than flesh. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was a season, but it was also the Spirit that united us. We were one in Christ, one in mission, and we became one in Him. This is God’s plan for humanity. We have a loving Father who reaches out to us and invites us into his family. Sadly, it is the flesh that, far too often, becomes the barrier to accepting the invitation. We live in a world that celebrates the flesh and somehow believes that the Spirit is antithetical to our “true” fleshly selves. Sadly, this is not God’s intent for humanity, but it is the deception on a grand scale that will keep us from becoming all that we could as Spirit-filled children of God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is no greater gift than to embrace our “Abba! Father!” Those words, spoken so endearingly, are life-giving and life-changing. Grace is extended to those who want to be welcomed into the family embrace. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Abba! Daddy! Thanks for the hug. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-12715233843616309172023-07-16T06:44:00.001-07:002023-07-16T06:44:12.276-07:00 Life in the Spirit<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_3FVx6VBkmQC7ZnlS1Osf9twZvbQ0bZ1rl4UpNXzAKBUWG0zOFfGhRkoBExf0uMOQ8KrqAAnbM7_fF3HOugdZsQOdU-JXt_IPRVqVG6M1tWYz0dKAZwCzS9h90R4N3Nr0eQNM6wG9ZudxI14gXj6WHrmqGbw26rv_UiZPXe_M7F7TkVt-tPmkR-ONY8/s2739/IMG_4253.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2270" data-original-width="2739" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_3FVx6VBkmQC7ZnlS1Osf9twZvbQ0bZ1rl4UpNXzAKBUWG0zOFfGhRkoBExf0uMOQ8KrqAAnbM7_fF3HOugdZsQOdU-JXt_IPRVqVG6M1tWYz0dKAZwCzS9h90R4N3Nr0eQNM6wG9ZudxI14gXj6WHrmqGbw26rv_UiZPXe_M7F7TkVt-tPmkR-ONY8/s320/IMG_4253.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some parrots at the Cincinnati zoo. They know how<br />to rest and enjoy their perch in life!</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 8:9</b> But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. <b><sup>10</sup></b> But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. <b><sup>11</sup></b> If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Followers of Jesus are born again into the Spirit of God. This Spirit drives our lives, not our flesh, because it is the Spirit of Christ that creates new life in and through us. We are connected to the Triune God through the Spirit. Sometimes we fail to see the power in the Spirit, but this is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that gives us life. We are empowered for daily living, and eternal life. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve been absent from this blog for quite some time. I can assure you that I’ve been in the word — but not in the way that I like to be — when I’m here. I’ve learned through life that this practice of studying the word and allowing it to indwell my life and to be my guide has been invaluable. The last few months have been some of the craziest of my life as I have prepared for my first General Assembly as a General Superintendent, and also as chair of the Board of General Superintendents. There have been numerous messages to prepare and details to cover. I have been in many different time-zones and found myself extremely tired. There have been days when I have been weary to the bone. It’s been in this season that I have taken to listening to the word every day, and playing praise and worship music to encourage me along the way. I believe this has been a season, and we all face different seasons in our lives, when we have to do things differently. However, this morning, I’m back in my chair where I like to sit and study the word. I have my cup of tea beside me, and I have two more weeks to be in the chair for the Board of General Superintendents. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and this season is coming to an end. I am able to return to this place where I can, once again, soak in God’s word. I have missed this spot — and the solitude of being with my dear friend. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The flesh can take over our lives in one big hurry. Yes, seasons of the urgent can creep into our lives. But Paul reminds us that we are not people of the flesh, but of the Spirit. A week ago last night I had the privilege of preaching to our young people at the Nazarene Youth Conference in Tampa, Florida. It was there that I talked about living in the Spirit — by standing in the overflow of God’s holy love day in and day out — like standing in a waterfall. To live life in the Spirit we need to dwell in the overflow on a daily basis. We can’t be the kind of Christ-follower that we are called to be without the Spirit, or we will become dry and brittle, and find ourselves easily breakable. The Spirit gives life — which also makes us malleable and flexible. The things that we encounter in life will not break us, but they just may shape us into who God intended for us to be. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We live in a world that is looking for labels. Everyone wants a diagnosis, or something to explain why they are the way they are. We take all kinds of tests to determine our strengths, or our “number.” While self-awareness is good, may it never become and excuse. God can take who we are in the flesh, fill it with the Spirit and enliven us to be far more than what the world could ever imagine. That’s the beauty of the transformational power of the Holy Spirit. That power is available to us today. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve missed being in my chair — and simply resting in the overflow. It’s good to be back. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I need your Spirit today — and every day. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-20194213764459863492023-04-12T05:28:00.001-07:002023-04-12T05:28:45.537-07:00 Life & Peace<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3OtQGJVhgEbB7LsXTkCsonldNbZe2Y1Judgs2Wjoc9JyRmJTXrcQfT6y0C-dN0gpe3jen0QpG6c1hclvMvm92SKdzRgmoSLawZ9AzoQLIfiAiI1CQar3BozzEepRb-B1lgCCfpNWpmUAPCdIWKxX0CyNDFGy8h0QOnPSNAHWhDmQQpS-Jrj7rEoE/s4032/IMG_4626.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3OtQGJVhgEbB7LsXTkCsonldNbZe2Y1Judgs2Wjoc9JyRmJTXrcQfT6y0C-dN0gpe3jen0QpG6c1hclvMvm92SKdzRgmoSLawZ9AzoQLIfiAiI1CQar3BozzEepRb-B1lgCCfpNWpmUAPCdIWKxX0CyNDFGy8h0QOnPSNAHWhDmQQpS-Jrj7rEoE/s320/IMG_4626.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beauty of new life, and new peace. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Scripture:</b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Rom. 8:1</b> There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. <b><sup>2</sup></b> For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. <b><sup>3</sup></b> For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, <b><sup>4</sup></b> so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. <b><sup>5</sup></b> For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. <b><sup>6</sup></b> To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. <b><sup>7</sup></b> For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, <b><sup>8</sup></b> and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Observation:</b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This is an incredible thought that Paul lays out for all of us. The condemnation that was so easy to place upon self and others because of the law is completely transformed by the life that is in Christ. The power of the incarnation is revealed as it is Christ who deals with sin. Therefore, we are charged to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Sprit. “The mind-set of the Flesh leads to death; and the mind-set of the Spirit leads to life and peace. So inveterate is the disposition of the Flesh, preoccupied as it is with its merely human interests, that it is ‘hostile to God,’ indeed incapable of pleasing God (vv 7–8)” (Edlin & Modine). </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The condemnation is gone, the flesh no longer drives our lives, and we can have life and peace in the Spirit. </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"> </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Application:</b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><b></b><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Last week was Holy Week and we were journeying toward the cross. It is the gift that Christ gives us in the cross that makes all the difference. There is life and peace at the foot of the cross — there is life and peace in the Spirit. </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In Paul’s day there was a tendency to try and find peace and meaning in the flesh. Even the religious leaders were hoping to find meaning by their flesh responding to the law. The Gentile world was constantly seeking for satisfaction in the the desires of the flesh. What Paul had to share was counter-cultural, not just for the gentiles or secular world, but for the Jewish religious world as well. It’s easy to become condemning of others when we often fail to examine ourselves. The flesh can manifest power and control in any number of ways. </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Chrysostom challenges us by saying that if we continue to walk in the flesh, it is because of our laziness. “For now that we are in Christ Jesus we have the power to avoid walking after the flesh” (Homilies on Romans 13). </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This passage remains a challenge for all of those who truly want to know Christ. The desires of the flesh — no matter what they may be — must be crucified with Christ. Paul clearly says that the mind set on the flesh is actually “hostile” to God. This hostility begins to draw lines and actively fights against those who are living in the Spirit. The beauty of life in the Spirit is that it brings us life and peace. In a world struggling with anxiety and desperation, isn’t sharing the good news about life in the Spirit worth it? I think that’s what Paul was saying. </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Prayer:</b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><b></b><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lord, thank you for the gift of life in the Spirit. Amen. </p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-68318551555630193932023-03-17T14:07:00.004-07:002023-03-17T14:14:11.928-07:00 Equipped for Struggles<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvv6LA8j-5AX_aWD5NAtDPZ-HQkd16pHQKrBG4O6wWU-ic8FD51T_8yPK7lCP4lOMxxv2ZqGiDQ0Q-H0ZpVxq_giaD_3L8f9JEhiB-SjY40-d5YWz9PatNI1-L5678pC02ck1dQg2BUJ7-JQ8NJOq9y_0lKi-3uzuBO0aj6XmuN2wHbx7Ubg6d3fx/s4001/IMG_2752.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4001" data-original-width="2180" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvv6LA8j-5AX_aWD5NAtDPZ-HQkd16pHQKrBG4O6wWU-ic8FD51T_8yPK7lCP4lOMxxv2ZqGiDQ0Q-H0ZpVxq_giaD_3L8f9JEhiB-SjY40-d5YWz9PatNI1-L5678pC02ck1dQg2BUJ7-JQ8NJOq9y_0lKi-3uzuBO0aj6XmuN2wHbx7Ubg6d3fx/s320/IMG_2752.jpeg" width="174" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This isn't quite the way we <br />are supposed to be equipped.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 7:14</b> For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. <b><sup>15</sup></b> I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. <b><sup>16</sup></b> Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. <b><sup>17</sup></b> But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. <b><sup>18</sup></b> For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. <b><sup>19</sup></b> For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. <b><sup>20</sup></b> Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 7:21</b> So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. <b><sup>22</sup></b> For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, <b><sup>23</sup></b> but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. <b><sup>24</sup></b> Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? <b><sup>25</sup></b> Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This entire passage is a struggle. Paul speaks in the first person as a battle rages on inside his heart, mind, soul and body. He understands very clearly that there is a direct connection between the spiritual and the physical self. The two are not to be disconnected, one from the other. The actions in the flesh are a reflection of the desires of the heart. His mind tells him not to do things, and yet, he succumbs to temptation. He knows what he is not to do, because he knows the law. The law therefore, is good, and the law itself is not sinful, but reveals the sinfulness of humanity. Sin continues to dwell in Paul and becomes a driving force in his struggle to do good. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All of this is a set-up for the next chapter where he will talk about being set free, but in the meantime, we are left in the midst of the struggle. “Clearly, the conflicted ‘I,’ the ‘wretched’ person, in Rom 7 is an awakened sinner, struggling for deliverance from indwelling sin” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). It is only when we come to the end of our struggles, of trying to work all of this out on our own, when we have abandoned ourselves to the Lord, that Christ does in us what we cannot do for ourselves. In that moment we cry out, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of my favorite Church Fathers, John Chrysostom, comments on this passage, “Christ not only set us free without demanding any payment for his services; he also equipped us for greater struggles in the future” (Homilies on Romans 13). This epic passage of inner struggle simply sets the stage for a resolution to the problem. Life doesn’t have to be a continuous and on-going struggle. We are equipped to handle the struggle because of the indwelling presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All things are possible to God,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To Christ, the power of God in man,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To me, when I am all renewed,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I in Christ am formed again,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And witness, from all sin set free,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All things are possible to me.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Charles Wesley, “All Things Are Possible to Him.” </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, may the struggle be yours — not mine. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-65988791140165664402023-02-11T05:56:00.001-08:002023-02-11T05:56:26.867-08:00 Sin Might be Shown to be Sin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs0XVC28yVq_Uj2zGCNTEw0s0FHNCW0fQci44Ts6bLLHdbyOs2ekbaiPkkDTlCGynBdvy_0-bd_jtxrBJxNg1ng0qvksr81buybmKBk-whBFZi9evNocw4EziHZNoyOhTMLECrW4nZESYP2Vto84x18idG-wGqigbPgITMB-oPrNzUmrJ3Oym3nMZ/s2804/IMG_3240.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2804" data-original-width="1805" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs0XVC28yVq_Uj2zGCNTEw0s0FHNCW0fQci44Ts6bLLHdbyOs2ekbaiPkkDTlCGynBdvy_0-bd_jtxrBJxNg1ng0qvksr81buybmKBk-whBFZi9evNocw4EziHZNoyOhTMLECrW4nZESYP2Vto84x18idG-wGqigbPgITMB-oPrNzUmrJ3Oym3nMZ/s320/IMG_3240.jpeg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 7:7</b> What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” <b><sup>8</sup></b> But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. <b><sup>9</sup></b> I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived <b><sup>10</sup></b> and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. <b><sup>11</sup></b> For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. <b><sup>12</sup></b> So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 7:13</b> Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The law of God was found in the Torah and the Jews knew what was written there. Paul had grown up studying the law and trying to follow its teachings. He had now discovered life in the Spirit and was reflecting on the difference between that freedom and life under the law. The law in and of itself was not bad, because the law provided an understanding of sin. In many ways it shone a light on my sinfulness. Or actually, sin used the law as a temptation for me to cross the line. The law didn’t give me life, but instead it showed me that I was on a pathway to death. Sin used the opportunity of the law to twist it and lead Paul into a path of devastation. “License is clearly not the answer, but neither can legalism rescue me from sin. Sin’s perversion of the holy law of God points out how utterly sinful sin is (Rom 7:13)” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). The law itself is good and holy. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Origin puts it this way: </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I do not know why it is, but things which are forbidden are desired all the more. Thus it happened that although the commandment is holy and just and good, since because it forbids evil it must be good, yet in forbidding covetousness it provoked and inflamed it all the more, with the result that something good wrought death in me. (COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS)</span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The whole scene is something of a replay of the Garden of Eden where the enemy twists God’s truth and then uses it to capture you forever (or so he thinks). “Inward rebellion against the Creator is the self’s attempt to usurp the place of God as the end of human existence” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). The reality is that we are able to recognize what sin is — and through the power of the Spirit, live sinless lives. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’ve mulled over this idea of sin before. The law of God, the commandments, exist so that sin might be shown to be sin. There is such a thing as sin in this world, and the enemy would like to get us to believe that there is not. If society no longer believes that that sin exists, then there is no longer any need for a Savior! That’s right where the enemy would want us. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe this passage ought to spark us to a reflection on the commandments of God. From Exodus 20, we read:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Exodus 20 </b>Then God spoke all these words,</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2 </b>“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; <b>3 </b>you shall have no other gods before me.</span> </p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4 </b>“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. <b>5 </b>You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me <b>6 </b>but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>7 </b>“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>8 </b>“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. <b>9 </b>Six days you shall labor and do all your work. <b>10 </b>But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. <b>11 </b>For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>12 </b>“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>13 </b>“You shall not murder.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>14 </b>“You shall not commit adultery.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>15 </b>“You shall not steal.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>16 </b>“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>17 </b>“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (NRSV)</span></p></blockquote></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No wonder we no longer want these to laws of God to adorn the halls of our public buildings — for they are reminders that sin is sin. If you don’t want to be reminded of sin — then simply tear down the laws and remove them. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it and then he summed it all up in this powerful way: </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Matthew 22: <b><sup>37</sup></b> He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ <b><sup>38</sup></b> This is the greatest and first commandment. <b><sup>39</sup></b> And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ <b><sup>40</sup></b> On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” </span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus’ words also reveal sin. The Pharisees didn’t like this answer because they were not living up to this standard, so they had Jesus killed. Killing the reminder of the law does not change the law. Sin is still sin, even if you do everything you can to bury any evidence of wrongdoing. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All of this is a reminder that there is freedom which comes through life in Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, please lead us not into temptation — so that we might not sin. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-92142857188760917982023-02-06T06:56:00.001-08:002023-02-06T06:56:23.180-08:00 Fidelity<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVK3v9hz81TBI8jdR26WJIkoeYmozJsHMDBvynzs3nXkDI-3REx8IJ-YKCDb2uWKMlWOqShfOlIA1iB0Lsdwn3qmraaOEYh5UR7DkwNZ4AX3ohzKIojOfGomVq1jO_xZlQDK-e4fb4_qV3kubDvCBJAjISP-hPtwD6nLLS3TOAEef2235SXrK2VVI/s2650/IMG_3344.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2650" data-original-width="2416" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVK3v9hz81TBI8jdR26WJIkoeYmozJsHMDBvynzs3nXkDI-3REx8IJ-YKCDb2uWKMlWOqShfOlIA1iB0Lsdwn3qmraaOEYh5UR7DkwNZ4AX3ohzKIojOfGomVq1jO_xZlQDK-e4fb4_qV3kubDvCBJAjISP-hPtwD6nLLS3TOAEef2235SXrK2VVI/s320/IMG_3344.jpeg" width="292" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Going on forty years -- I still choose this guy,<br />and this guy alone! </td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 7:1</b> Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? <b><sup>2</sup></b> Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. <b><sup>3</sup></b> Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 7:4</b> In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. <b><sup>5</sup></b> While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. <b><sup>6</sup></b> But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The old life is one which holds us captive. Paul speaks of the freedom which comes from being released from trying to please the law and having been given new life in the Spirit. He uses the analogy of marriage and a woman being bound to her husband, as long as he is alive. If that husband dies, she is given freedom to choose another husband. However, if her husband is still alive and she has a relationship with another man, she commits adultery. In the same way, if we try to serve two masters — we are committing adultery. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The death of which Paul speaks is the intentional disconnect from the law which we try to please. We are to die to that law that holds us back from having new life. The law is constantly fighting with our sinful passions. We are human beings and our flesh desires to rule us, but this will lead us to destruction. This is self-centered living. The freedom about which Paul speaks is given to us through the power of the Spirit and can set us free from the power of the flesh. The old code is broken, but it does not mean license to live any way we want. “Those who live out of the Spirit’s resources do God’s will spontaneously in love, not because of Law’s demands” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Currently we find ourselves in a battle between culture and Christ. Who or what will be the object of our affections? The world is telling us a new set of rules have been placed before us. A new “law” so to speak. We find ourselves interpreting scripture through the lens of the current cultural norms. If we rolled back the clock just 50 years, the things that we suddenly believe are acceptable would have never been affirmed by the people of God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This leads us to the question “Are we married to the things of this world and trying to find favor from our neighbors while at the same time trying to be committed to Christ?” I think that Paul would say that we are committing adultery. It’s time to be married to one or the other, but we cannot have both. As long as we try to have both we will be frustrated and a battle will wage within our flesh. Interestingly Paul talks about that battle and bearing fruit for death. As followers of Christ we are to be bearing fruit, and yet, so many are not bearing fruit for God’s kingdom these days. Might it be that we simply cannot bear fruit when we are trying to be married to two camps? The world and Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While the world is clamoring for our affection, the Spirit is offering us something entirely new. When we let go of the things that we think are most important — money, success, sex, relationships — and release them to God, there is freedom. We discover the overwhelming love of God when we are faithful to our relationship with Christ alone! </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, when the things of this world are wanting my love and attention, draw me near to you. Please, help me to live in the freedom of the Spirit every single day — to your glory. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-13374811855379672322023-01-28T20:08:00.003-08:002023-01-28T20:09:36.124-08:00 To Be Set Free<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG-70VhSqPRmnaNW2B68CKNP_DfAi6PtzrUsN1ILC-phWFIYUcRVUGlqysXwEtFZ0mVoTCKPjz75u2EMQmDaXsmrisDX9fPS9xHPB5qZjs7N0P8bksnDTYnJS1yCacGtU0T1hq1mlTKHAJXoCFRnqFkmoUeHhdMG1sNXC9VPi-3ekKYlv1TgnAbds/s3571/IMG_3260.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2979" data-original-width="3571" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG-70VhSqPRmnaNW2B68CKNP_DfAi6PtzrUsN1ILC-phWFIYUcRVUGlqysXwEtFZ0mVoTCKPjz75u2EMQmDaXsmrisDX9fPS9xHPB5qZjs7N0P8bksnDTYnJS1yCacGtU0T1hq1mlTKHAJXoCFRnqFkmoUeHhdMG1sNXC9VPi-3ekKYlv1TgnAbds/s320/IMG_3260.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman of the imperial household in Rome.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 6:15</b> What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! <b><sup>16</sup></b> Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? <b><sup>17</sup></b> But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, <b><sup>18</sup></b> and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. <b><sup>19</sup></b> I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 6:20</b> When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. <b><sup>21</sup></b> So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. <b><sup>22</sup></b> But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. <b><sup>23</sup></b> For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“As Christians we are free to choose our lord—whether sin or God. But we are never free to choose the consequences of our choice of masters” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). That’s why Paul comes on strong about continuing in sin. He believes that there is a Christian life that is available to all believers where the life of sin is replaced with the life of virtue. This is what it means for Paul to be set free from a life of sin and now to become entirely obedient to righteousness. There is a choice to be made — for we will all be committed to one or the other. The incredible gift of God is to be set free.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once we are set free, we are not “made holy simply to be saintly, but to serve” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). Returning to the conversation of shooting at a particular target, or aiming at the mark, Paul identifies sin as intentionally choosing a different target, and this is rebellion against God. The new goal or target for the Christian is sanctification or holiness, and this does not come from a split allegiance, but from wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ. The language used here by Paul is appropriated from the “through and through” terminology which he uses in reference to sanctification when writing to the Thessalonians. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The final verse is well known, but summarizes the challenge before each individual who chooses whether to be set free and serve God entirely, or not. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sometimes it’s hard to see that there is a need to be set free because it seems there are many good people in the world. When I was a child my imagination got the best of me as I thought about those who were “slaves to sin.” Obviously those were those really bad people who murdered, swore, and were often drunk. It was a visual of the degradations of sin and the ruin of one’s life. The challenge when I grew up was meeting some really nice people who didn’t follow Christ and this created a bit of a conundrum in my mind. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What would Paul say to that really good person whom I encounter at work — the one who would give the shirt off of their back to help someone in need? Surely, they are not shooting at the wrong target in life! In this regard I believe there are two things at work. First, Paul has been talking about the response to natural law. In other words — people do have a sense of what is right and wrong. This is how humanity ruled at the Nuremberg trials following WWII. Criminals were judged for not following the higher law, and for simply following orders. As humans we are to understand this and follow the natural or moral law. However, after Paul laid out the case for the natural law, he expounded upon the work of Christ to set us free. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think that the enemy is very clever in trying to convince us that we don’t need Christ in our lives. So many of our material needs are met that not many see a need for God in their lives. Their pocketbooks become their gods and they become complacent and satisfied with what life has to offer. While we may think that this is something new, it would not have been to the Roman world. Paul was writing to very sophisticated people in Rome and many there would have been wealthy. They would have had gods to worship and a lifestyle that “should” have made many happy as they fed their own desires. It was into this world that Paul spoke and said that you were still a slave to the things of this world, or the things of Christ. To be set free is to refuse to allow the trappings of this life to hold you in conformity to its values. At the end of the day, even those with wealth and resources, and yes, even really nice people, find themselves in need of Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This message from Paul is about radical transformation in which every part of life is oriented around Christ. This new orientation leads us directly into a relationship of participation in holy love. It is this holy love of God that sanctifies us through and through. The on-going through and through of the walk with Christ is to permeate every part of our being. We are no longer sinners — or even just good people — but we are reflections of Christ in the world. This is the advantage that we receive from our walk with God, and in this we find freedom. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I may your spirit continue to work through and through my being — every single day. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-35932128357228159942023-01-21T14:00:00.002-08:002023-01-21T14:00:17.578-08:00 The Power of Grace<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_Qyc9uoL454BA-l5NbrK4svqq4g06zPE7tdvTceBrZwOdaPYb7AmtBhy2jxS6Ne66dflD_q5LFvjLMQknjuFwIpOIEKqaXMzTMnv1VNL1j-6VWtDMT7fFyqei5poXHo_OvIvJp1A5sPiZdgfaNIiQ0eny_aohkZarp2qZ20kU2ZoQZfc4-FAK_gj/s4032/IMG_3514.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_Qyc9uoL454BA-l5NbrK4svqq4g06zPE7tdvTceBrZwOdaPYb7AmtBhy2jxS6Ne66dflD_q5LFvjLMQknjuFwIpOIEKqaXMzTMnv1VNL1j-6VWtDMT7fFyqei5poXHo_OvIvJp1A5sPiZdgfaNIiQ0eny_aohkZarp2qZ20kU2ZoQZfc4-FAK_gj/s320/IMG_3514.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tomb is empty, for He has risen -- at the Garden Tomb, Jerusalem. </td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 6:1</b> What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? <b><sup>2</sup></b> By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? <b><sup>3</sup></b> Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? <b><sup>4</sup></b> Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 6:5</b> For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. <b><sup>6</sup></b> We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. <b><sup>7</sup></b> For whoever has died is freed from sin. <b><sup>8</sup></b> But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. <b><sup>9</sup></b> We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. <b><sup>10</sup></b> The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. <b><sup>11</sup></b> So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 6:12</b> Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. <b><sup>13</sup></b> No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. <b><sup>14</sup></b> For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If grace is supplied equal to the need in regard to sin, then there are those who would argue that we ought to keep on sinning so that grace can abound. Paul is wanting us to understand the absurdity of this statement, for those who were now “in Christ” are now no longer in a condition in which they want to continue to sin. If that were the case, then they would have misunderstood the work of Christ. Jesus died once and for all for our sins, therefore we don’t continue to live in sin once we have received his righteousness and justification. “Thoroughly changed, the person we once were is ‘dead.’ It is as if we enjoy a new life that is not our own” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC) </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul says that we have been “united” with him — and Origen tells us that this means that we are “planted” with Christ. Just imagine that we have roots that go down deep and are intertwined, so much so that we are held firm. Not only are we united, or planted with Christ, but we are also planted with other believers. The more that we are united and/or rooted, the stronger we will be, and able to live free from sin. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is intentionality in our actions where we submit our bodies to the Lord as his instruments. The word for instruments is the same as armor, or weaponry. In other words, our bodies can be used in the battle for sin, or in the battle against sin. It depends how we use what we have been given. Every day we are to bring the members of our body and be submitted to the Lordship of Christ. If we do this, we will be able to live in grace, no longer controlled by sin. “God justifies us in order that he may sanctify us, and he sanctifies us that we might serve him as his instruments in this world, share fully in the likeness of Christ, and participate in his glory in the world to come” (Edling & Modine, NBBC). Grace gives us the power to be liberated from sin’s master and to submit our redeemed selves before God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There have been times that I’ve heard the “old-timers” testify, “His grace is sufficient.” These are people who have been walking with the Lord for many years and have endured difficulties and trials. I used to love the testimony services, and I miss them because there is much that we need to learn from one another. Timothy Smith, church historian, commented: “Might we not establish the custom of beginning every business meeting with a time of sharing, even a brief one if necessary, of the experiences or concerns of at least two or three persons? And could we not concentrate on the quest of the fruits of the Spirit and how the blessing of heart purity sustains that quest?" (Smith, <i>Nazarenes in the Wesleyan Mission</i>). I believe that we need to revive the practice of sharing testimonies because they edify those who are planted, and helps to deepen our roots. It also provides for accountability among God’s people. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let’s get back to the “sufficient grace.” God’s grace is sufficient to save us from a multitude of sins, but that is simply the beginning. The power of grace is so strong that it is sufficient for everything that we will face in life, and keep us from sinning. We don’t need to continue living in sin, but can be held by the power of grace. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Those “saints” in the testimony service would often talk about the ways in which God had taken them through the most difficult moments in life. This includes loss of loved ones and physical pain and agony. Instead of complaining, they rejoice and praise God for the power of grace. These are the messages that we need to hear from those who have learned the lessons of grace. The power of grace not only sustains us, but can also have an impact on our attitude. Those “saints” were often some of the sweetest people that I’ve ever met. Their intimacy with the Lord through their personal pain became transformational. Maybe it’s because grace abounds when we are going through tough days, and that grace is actually an outpouring of the divine nature. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Walking through the dark days of life in the power of grace allows us get in touch with God in ways beyond anything we can imagine. That’s why the old “saints” of the testimony service would not only speak of “sufficient grace” but that it all gets “sweeter as the days go by.” As a young child I simply heard words, without an understanding of the meaning, but today those words are filled up with the power of grace which I have experienced throughout this life’s journey. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, please help me to see and understand the power of your grace to sustain and infill throughout life. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-63121402743340697742023-01-17T04:04:00.001-08:002023-01-17T04:04:45.523-08:00 Christ and Adam<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYqycuniWhowDFeXqY3XW_z3Nrf2AjNmurhaH0aOnu7DHDxswEhX15-DoAXSQvcQ1FeS_9bT0gDoeNYnduUbPHT6HiVZ_J_UMbO_UPRq5PcP9_H_a9WLvF4fuCCD-BDwbdlIj3ULb_hlCW8-6sqnDuN8eHti3_0VSOdpOPEIH5D2mg15rLQw3Cnvo/s3728/IMG_3387.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3728" data-original-width="2996" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYqycuniWhowDFeXqY3XW_z3Nrf2AjNmurhaH0aOnu7DHDxswEhX15-DoAXSQvcQ1FeS_9bT0gDoeNYnduUbPHT6HiVZ_J_UMbO_UPRq5PcP9_H_a9WLvF4fuCCD-BDwbdlIj3ULb_hlCW8-6sqnDuN8eHti3_0VSOdpOPEIH5D2mg15rLQw3Cnvo/s320/IMG_3387.jpeg" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 5:12</b> Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— <b><sup>13</sup></b> sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. <b><sup>14</sup></b> Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 5:15</b> But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. <b><sup>16</sup></b> And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. <b><sup>17</sup></b> If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 5:18</b> Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. <b><sup>19</sup></b> For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. <b><sup>20</sup></b> But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, <b><sup>21</sup></b> so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For Augustine this passage provided a foundation for his understanding of original sin. The title is intentional, Christ first, and then Adam, for many would say that Paul did not have an interest in developing a doctrine of original sin, but “his main concern is to show the all-encompassing and surpassingly glorious effect of Christ on those who belong to him” (Jewett 2007, 380). Pelagius would refer to this as “the reign of grace” (Pelagius’ Commentary on Romans). While we recognize the role of Adam, we emphasize the work of Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The free gift of Jesus Christ is grace, which abounds to many. This is a resurrection story, humanity being brought from death to life. It is the corruption of sin which leads to decay and death, but the justification found in Christ that brings about newness of life. Some of the early church scholars made it clear that they did not blame Eve for the presence of sin, but Adam — but also recognizing that the word “Adam” also meant the human, encompassing all of humankind, male and female. It was the humans who sinned and this brought about corruption on the earth. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Note Paul’s clear language regarding “sinners.” We have all been made sinners through the acts of the “Adam.” He doesn’t beleaguer this point because sin is not his emphasis. Then came the law of Moses, which revealed the depths of sin — in comparison to the law. Sin increased, but so did grace. The “reign of grace” is more than sufficient to meet the need of those who are under the control of sin. Grace has the power to exercise dominion in our lives. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In theology we often talk about Christ being the second Adam — setting aright that which went wrong with the first Adam. We put the first Adam in that “first” place and we can certainly examine our world and see what has gone wrong. The corruption of this world is on a sad trajectory because of the sin of humanity, found in Adam. However, if we switch these positions and we don’t focus so much on “original sin” but rather, on the “reign of grace” we just might have a different perspective on the presence of God’s kingdom here on earth. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The “reign of grace” is not sometime in the future, but is a present reality. It is not the Holy Roman Empire, nor the Christendom that humans built with their own hands. Recently I was in Barcelona and went to see the la Sagrada Familia — a massive church near the city center. The work on this church began 140 years ago but as yet, it remains unfinished. There is still a crane alongside the Cathedral working on yet another spire that will reach up to the sky. The building is massive and dwarfs everything in the surrounding area. The sad truth is that no matter how hard humanity works to build these types of edifices, they do not reflect the “reign of grace.” God doesn’t need us to build cathedrals to touch the sky to remind the world about him. What the world needs is a people who are surrendered to doing life in God’s kingdom, entirely enthralled by the reign of grace. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Each one of us is called to be an instrument of grace within the kingdom of God. We don’t need to spend all of our time worrying on all the sinful things that we see in the world. Those things have always been around — and if we do, then we are focusing on Adam. It’s so easy to become consumed with pointing out the presence of sin in this world, but when we do, we miss out on what God is really wanting us to experience. When Christ comes first, our eyes are not on the results of Adam, but on Christ alone. As we look to Christ, our concern is about how we can better reflect the kingdom of grace in this world. The daily journey is one in which opportunities abound to be active agents of grace. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The other day we stopped at a bakery in the afternoon for a cup of tea. The young lady waiting on us had a very familiar accent and Chuck and I tried out speaking Russian with her. Russians abroad are very leery of letting people know that they are Russians these days because of the war. They are afraid of people lashing out at them because of the actions of their leaders. However, when we spoke to her she nearly broke out in tears. She said she hadn’t heard her language for so long and she was very homesick. We compared notes as to where in Moscow we had lived — and she simply beamed. When we left that day we overtipped and said a blessing over her as we walked out. We will probably never meet Valerie again, but it felt like we had been given the gift of participating in the reign of grace, and we rejoiced. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How we choose to respond in life is up to us. Either we allow Adam to maintain a foothold, or we embrace Christ and allow grace to to have dominion. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I pray for opportunities to participate in your reign of grace on a daily basis. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-55705821629563896252023-01-10T02:16:00.004-08:002023-01-10T02:16:39.437-08:00 Reconciled and Enduring<p><br /></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAZKkZMIBOxrh8DAWjgKCxxfUYlHnyRV7krIzZdCCfS9AYtLRx7nU_jN035ptt3EolIZSP1ZZSkby2tNKp9XldsXbUh3htiXQlIixgFS4yRANfUhOxuUL4fZuipJKstQldGIEey7HJTedlIk2G3DT5EP_Fgp49BOVpDuNYcd6SdU9EOllTPbl5mFp/s3656/IMG_3288.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3656" data-original-width="2013" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAZKkZMIBOxrh8DAWjgKCxxfUYlHnyRV7krIzZdCCfS9AYtLRx7nU_jN035ptt3EolIZSP1ZZSkby2tNKp9XldsXbUh3htiXQlIixgFS4yRANfUhOxuUL4fZuipJKstQldGIEey7HJTedlIk2G3DT5EP_Fgp49BOVpDuNYcd6SdU9EOllTPbl5mFp/w226-h411/IMG_3288.jpeg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virtue of Fortitude by Botticelli</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"> </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 5:1</b> Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, <b><sup>2</sup></b> through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. <b><sup>3</sup></b> And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, <b><sup>4</sup></b> and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, <b><sup>5</sup></b> and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 5:6</b> For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. <b><sup>7</sup></b> Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. <b><sup>8</sup></b> But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. <b><sup>9</sup></b> Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. <b><sup>10</sup></b> For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. <b><sup>11</sup></b> But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The “therefore” connects this section with the previous where Paul made it clear that all of humanity, including Abraham, were justified by faith, and not by works. This reiteration sets the stage for the next portion of the letter to the church in Rome. Because we have been justified, we are set at peace with God. Paul again used the language of “boasting” — but the only thing we can boast in is the hope that we find in Christ which results in “sharing the glory of God.” After Moses was on the mountain with God he returned to the Israelites and his face shining, reflecting the glory of God. This was temporary and the people asked him to cover his face for they were uncomfortable with God’s glory being revealed. This new sharing in God’s glory is not temporary, but is eternal, and about this we can boast. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul went on to speak about suffering, a subject which we may not particularly want to embrace. Basil of Caesarea commented on the benefits: “For those who are well prepared, tribulations are like certain foods and exercises for athletes which lead the contestant on to the inheritance of glory. When we are reviled, we bless; maligned, we entreat; ill-treated, we give thanks; afflicted, we glory in our afflictions” (Basil, HOMILY 16). In other words, how will character be developed, if we do not experience difficulties in life and learn to endure? Chrysostom goes on to say:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Endurance produces character, which contributes in some measure to the things which are to come because it gives power to the hope which is within us. Nothing encourages a man to hope for blessing more than the strength of a good character. No one who has led a good life worries about the future. . . . Does our good really lie in hope? Yes, but not in human hopes, which often vanish and leave only embarrassment behind. Our hope is in God and is therefore sure and immovable (Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON ROMANS 9).</span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This sure and immovable love comes to us from God, and this is hope, which comes to us in our weakness. The early martyrs died for the sake of Christ, because Christ was worthy. Paul emphasized the fact that Christ died for us while we were still living in sin. We were and are not worthy of his death. It’s the death of Christ that brings about reconciliation between God and humankind, and this becomes another thing about which Paul can boast. Wesley says, “The whole sentence, from the third to the eleventh verse, may be taken together thus: We not only ‘rejoice in hope of the glory of God,’ but also in the midst of tribulations we glory in God himself through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Wesley, Notes). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, Chrysostom sums up this section:</span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul means here that we should stop sinning and not go back to the way we used to live, for that is to make war with God.</span><p></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How is this possible? Paul says that not only is it possible, it is also reasonable. For if God reconciled us to himself when we were in open warfare with him, it is surely reasonable that we should be able to remain in a state of reconciliation (Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON ROMANS 9). </span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Suffering and hardship are not things that I necessarily like. However, at my age (now over 60), I recognize that it was in the difficult seasons of life that I have learned the greatest lessons. Early on in our married life we learned the importance of working out our differences and figuring out how to work together and now, after 40 years we have discovered the beauty of endurance. When we were young and very poor we learned the importance of creating and living within a budget. We learned how to clip coupons and shop for the best buys on groceries during the week. I remember inviting people to our home for Sunday dinner because it was cheaper than going out with people (and also much easier to put our own kids down for a nap!). It may have seemed like extra work, but there were valuable lessons that I learned along the way. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When we moved to Russia in the early 1990’s, I thought I had stepped into some kind of a time warp where the joke was that the local time was 1948. I learned to stand in line for food and rejoice at the arrival of frozen food from the “west.” I began to appreciate the phrase, “give us this day our daily bread” as the stores sold out of bread on a daily basis. We taught our children, “we are not picky people” — as we learned to appreciate all the little things in life. And while I know there are still lessons for me to learn, all of these experiences have gone into shaping who I am today, and I pray that they reflect the glory of God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, let us think about our spiritual lives. Because we have been reconciled to God — we are not his enemies. Enemies are engaged in an on-going battle to undermine those whom they are fighting. We are now on God’s team, and as such, should not be involved in anything that would sabotage the kingdom’s work. God’s work can become sabotaged by our own selfish behaviors. When we allow the daily focus of our lives to be on the things of this world, we will drift away from the endurance that Paul had in mind and not realize that we may have become engaged in discussion and/or behaviors which undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ. We begin working against reconciliation and become agents of enmity. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When we are reconciled, we are put on the Lord’s side, and therefore we endure for the sake of God’s kingdom work. We endure self-denial, prayer, acts of charity, and sacrifice to participate in Christ’s kingdom. This isn’t about us, but it is about God and that is why Paul says that we can boast in the glory of God. God’s glory is revealed when God gets the credit. We become who we are through the grace of God, in the power of the Spirit. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every follower of Christ must come to grips with what it means to be reconciled to God. As Chrysostom says, “we should stop sinning and not go back to the way we used to live.” Reconciliation with God means a new way of living our lives, and this, in enduring service to our Lord. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, even when I fight against you, you are there. Thank you for your reconciling work. Please, help me to see past my own worries and concerns and live in enduring faith and trust in you. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-29960344525872658152023-01-08T03:55:00.000-08:002023-01-08T03:55:12.540-08:00 Hoping Against Hope<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMg-Qk-TBAcb1HN_9DoeSNmJf3jx3UxQgcZsoWP3VycbkoeR7dO8kNcOyoo-hjiMj-7pm6dUSx1e-krWaIM5ok_pjGAanhdlbcQYbBuL49Eq92kVgdJARys8Rd1qrBrvqrpE26ITzUFkrCh7AqUOTYFpPbDqo5ktdVcrbN1EDbwf5lCcK5GHbeWd5/s3413/IMG_2717.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3413" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMg-Qk-TBAcb1HN_9DoeSNmJf3jx3UxQgcZsoWP3VycbkoeR7dO8kNcOyoo-hjiMj-7pm6dUSx1e-krWaIM5ok_pjGAanhdlbcQYbBuL49Eq92kVgdJARys8Rd1qrBrvqrpE26ITzUFkrCh7AqUOTYFpPbDqo5ktdVcrbN1EDbwf5lCcK5GHbeWd5/s320/IMG_2717.jpeg" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female martyrs, hoping against hope. </td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 4:13</b> For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. <b><sup>14</sup></b> If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. <b><sup>15</sup></b> For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 4:16</b> For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, <b><sup>17</sup></b> as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. <b><sup>18</sup></b> Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” <b><sup>19</sup></b> He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. <b><sup>20</sup></b> No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, <b><sup>21</sup></b> being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. <b><sup>22</sup></b> Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” <b><sup>23</sup></b> Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, <b><sup>24</sup></b> but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, <b><sup>25</sup></b> who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul continues looking back historically at the life of Abraham and affirms that the promises of God were given to Abraham long before the law. Again he is wanting the Romans to understand that Abraham was justified by his faith and not by the letter of the law. Paul was a good Jew and recognized the value of the law, therefore he made intentional connections between the Old Testament and the work of Jesus Christ. These are not two separate stories, but are one and the same. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Interestingly, “Paul adds parenthetically: And where there is no law there is no transgression (parabasis; v 15b)” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). In other words, he affirms that we are not saved by the law, but that the law does give us parameters for life, and if we have no law, we don’t transgress. It’s just a little footnote that humanity needs to have laws so that we understand what is right and wrong. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul then connects the dots between faith and grace — and this, for all of humankind. This is an affirmation of prevenient grace which reaches out to all of humanity, both Jew and Gentile — both follower of Christ and those walking in sin — providing a pathway through faith to salvation. Even for those who may be considered dead, Paul uses creation language — “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The same power that brought about the creation of the world provides gracing power to bring new life to those who are lost. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The next phrase is fascinating where Paul says that against all hope, Abraham hoped. The Greek says that Abraham was <i>beyond hope in hope</i>. He persisted in hope, even when, in the earthly sense, he had nothing more to hope for. Käsemann tells us that believers who hang onto this kind of hope, “do not bypass realities but are aware of them and hold their ground just the same. They do not escape into illusion. They dare to trust the divine promise, contrary to every earthly reality” (Käsemann 1980, 124). For Abraham, the earthly reality was that God asked him to sacrifice his son, and asked him to believe that he would become a father when he was an old man. Abraham trusted “in a reality beyond the ability of eyes to see, in the God who allows a barren old couple to conceive a child of promise” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). This hope beyond hope meant that Abraham was fully persuaded [plērophorētheis] that the promise was not to be fulfilled through his own personal striving, but by faith in the all-powerful God could accomplish that which had been promised. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, Abraham believed in the God “who gives life to the dead” (v.17); “Christians believe in the God who raised Jesus from the dead” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). The connection has been made between the Old and New Testaments and the lives of Jews and Gentiles alike have been united in the story of God. Just like Abraham, we can hope against hope and trust in our all-powerful God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Probably the danger in emphasizing the persistence in hope is that we all know those who have done so and haven’t seen their prayers answered — at least in the way in which we think they should have been. One of my brothers is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on ethics and the holocaust. He is examining the ways in which people were manipulated and used to commit atrocities beyond our imagination. Last evening as we sat over dinner he was sharing some horrific details that he has discovered in his research and leaves you wondering where God was in those moments. Not just moments, but days and weeks and months. At one point the camp that he is studying was killing 5000 Jews every three hours! How in the world do we do that to one another? And didn’t those people hope against hope? </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I don’t have the answers for those times when it seems that God is distant or not answering our prayers but there is still something that we need to embrace about hoping in God, even when we are beyond hope. Even today there are friends and family members who are facing their own, what appear to be, insurmountable problems. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Abraham’s example challenges us to examine our own responses to what we are facing in life. No matter how hard we strive, we will not be able to retain healthy young bodies. The older we get, the more our bodies begin to wear out and as my dad used to say, “getting old is not for sissies.” We get to “enjoy” the addition of glasses, hearing aids, and maybe new joints. Walking up a few flights of stairs may leave us winded and going to bed earlier in the evening seems like pure bliss. The world’s economy is on shaky ground and those who have been striving to plan for retirement may suddenly find themselves stretched and perplexed at what is happening around them. Young people are challenged to be able to enter adult life as housing prices are out of reach and the cost of living is rising monthly. People are concerned that the Church is going to drift away into oblivion! With the realities of life staring us in the face, how do we hope against hope?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The lesson that Paul (and the Lord), wants us to learn is that when we can no longer put our hope in our own resources, we are to reach beyond and and hope in God alone. When we get that horrible diagnosis — reach beyond and find God. When we are crushed by a failed relationship — reach beyond and find God. When we are persecuted — reach beyond and find God. When we are unjustly treated by the world — reach beyond and find God. The same God who breathed this beautiful creation into being is the one who reaches out to us in grace and wants to save us from our own striving. This salvation isn’t necessarily for this temporal season, but for all of eternity. Somehow Abraham seemed to understand that reality, and when he had to hope against hope, he found faith in God. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I know there are days when I’m putting my trust in my own striving, and so I need you to help me increase my faith. I need your power to hope against hope and trust in you. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-51594270912397666482023-01-07T02:49:00.005-08:002023-01-07T02:50:17.719-08:00 Still Searching for a Sign?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkweJVCjTycDAmjX-IIQmomrH501CKVnB_1oZtHMdt0nJc9PeafhzPtHKQuEdjSaRXrv8G7-xT4lPSHN4Hx-zKVgnRivSn1NfBMhD4OxQispqMK1MDLyjrSi5YOVfT980GAoO22lZim4_PyJG2SmgpP1HdiT7-g0wPbMKL_NuUMm_aGQYC-rHx_6xF/s4032/IMG_2739.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkweJVCjTycDAmjX-IIQmomrH501CKVnB_1oZtHMdt0nJc9PeafhzPtHKQuEdjSaRXrv8G7-xT4lPSHN4Hx-zKVgnRivSn1NfBMhD4OxQispqMK1MDLyjrSi5YOVfT980GAoO22lZim4_PyJG2SmgpP1HdiT7-g0wPbMKL_NuUMm_aGQYC-rHx_6xF/s320/IMG_2739.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Duomo in Florence. </td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 4:9</b> Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” <b><sup>10</sup></b> How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. <b><sup>11</sup></b> He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, <b><sup>12</sup></b> and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Jews were intent upon the sign of circumcision as proof that they were made righteous before God. This, of course, distinguished them from the Gentiles who were not circumcised. In the diatribe style Paul continued the conversation regarding Abraham. “Paul’s answer is that Abraham received the sign of circumcision (see Gen 17:11) as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised (see Rom 2:25–29; Gen 17:11, 13). The expression sign of circumcision means simply ‘a sign consisting of circumcision’” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). Moo goes on to say, “In this way Abraham is qualified to be the father of all who believe. For, like Gentile Christians, Abraham was justified without being circumcised (11b) and, like Jewish Christians, he was both circumcised and justified by faith. Paul’s reading of Genesis, in the light of the fulfilment of God’s plan in Christ, allows him to see Abraham as more than just the father of the Jewish nation (1, ‘our forefather according to the flesh’), but as the father of all Christians” (Moo, NBC).</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Chrysostom unpacked this concept: </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Circumcision is meaningless if there is no faith within. It is a sign of righteousness, but if there is no righteousness, then there is no sign either. The reason the Jews received a sign was that they might seek diligently for the reality of which the sign spoke. If they had done so, they would not have needed the sign in the first place. Righteousness is not the only thing that circumcision proclaims; it also proclaims that righteousness can be found in an uncircumcised man (e.g., Abraham). In effect, therefore, circumcision proclaims that there is no need of circumcision (HOMILIES ON ROMANS 8). </span></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Therefore, those who are searching for a sign are looking in the wrong place. Even Abraham was justified by faith years before he received the sign, and therefore is the father of Jews and Gentiles alike. This was a radical news for those who had been clinging to the outward signs of their faith. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are numerous outward signs of Christianity to be found in this world. This includes a variety of church buildings that you find throughout all of Europe. Often they stand out as symbols of a faith that impacted the entire world, but are starkly empty these days. Just as the Jews of the first century, we may also be searching for an outward sign that God is still at work in our world. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The reality is that God doesn’t work through buildings, but does work through people. Humans are God’s chosen instruments to impact the world. The church is made up of God’s people, uniting together as living stones to touch the world for Christ. These living stones are the sign that God is at work. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sadly, the humble service of one follower of Christ may not be exciting enough for those who are still searching for a sign. That sign may not be found in the Cathedrals of Europe, but it might be found in the latest upstart church in your neighborhood. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard parents say that they needed to move from the smaller, more humble church community to a larger one that had more to offer in the youth group. If we reflect on young people who grow up to follow Christ they are not necessarily the ones who were a part of a large and entertaining youth group, but the ones who came from the smaller church communities where they were eye-witnesses of the faithfulness of Christ in the lives of God’s humble servants. These kids learned how to serve along-side the older folks of the church because everyone was needed. There may not have been an exciting outward sign, but there was a divine sign of the presence of God in the lives of those who had been justified by faith. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The world is mocking a Christianity that grades its “cool” pastors by the types of shoes that they wear. These are not signs that we have made it as Christians. Paul challenges us to return to posture of humility before a loving God who saves and justifies us through faith in him alone. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, the temptation to seek for signs of success seem to tug at the heart. Please help me to seek you with all my heart and willingly serve you wherever you may place me. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-41097619385300961062023-01-05T02:08:00.002-08:002023-01-05T08:59:22.432-08:00 Embracing the Blessing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SvS3qeR2pcUzO21wabs8wLqawx7RHqsd7Y0X6aqA64MV-8VfpK_9hDa9tpjCtXXoErkYcIsohX7zDOkTYP7e0GRT440KA3Gja5Fc3-qAkbXlm7nFToh1O-8ZOcCl5oEHJCPPNlNaW3Re1AAogJxwesWqFq9R7LJ6OWfaFp6-1-z1TsziX3-kdBah/s4032/IMG_3223.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SvS3qeR2pcUzO21wabs8wLqawx7RHqsd7Y0X6aqA64MV-8VfpK_9hDa9tpjCtXXoErkYcIsohX7zDOkTYP7e0GRT440KA3Gja5Fc3-qAkbXlm7nFToh1O-8ZOcCl5oEHJCPPNlNaW3Re1AAogJxwesWqFq9R7LJ6OWfaFp6-1-z1TsziX3-kdBah/s320/IMG_3223.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Altar in the rotunda of the Pantheon, Rome. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 4:1</b> What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? <b><sup>2</sup></b> For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. <b><sup>3</sup></b> For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” <b><sup>4</sup></b> Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. <b><sup>5</sup></b> But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. <b><sup>6</sup></b> So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>7</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven,</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and whose sins are covered;</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><sup>8</sup></b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paul realized that there were still people who were unconvinced by his argument of faith vs. works. The Jews considered Abraham an incredible example of one who lived out his faith by works — for he even offered to sacrifice his son. But even in that moment, Abraham was exhibiting is own faith that with God all things are possible. Therefore, even father Abraham had nothing to boast about. Abraham, too, was justified by faith. (Chysostom, <i>Homily</i> 8). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The reference to the worker and the wages is interesting. When someone is employed, they receive their wage in return for the work that is performed. This is a contractual relationship that requires both ends to complete the required work. What’s fascinating about God’s grace and justification is that it is offered without required work. This is not a worker - employer relationship, but this is a loving Father who is lavishing grace upon those who are not deserving. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Moo tells us:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They [the Roman Christians, both Jew and Gentile] knew the reality of sin; and they knew the reality of a holy God who could not tolerate sin. Only through the sacrifice of Christ, paying the debt incurred by our sin that we could never pay, could God make a way of accepting people who are by nature unacceptable to him. Those people in our day who ignore or minimize the problem of human sin in the face of a holy God do well to heed the warning of the great medieval theologian Anselm: “You have not yet considered the weight of sin.” (Moo, <i>ZIBBCNT</i>)</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a great weight of sin that is all-consuming, and this must be considered. Without considering sin, we have no reason to live into faith. Living into faith means that our “iniquities are forgiven.” Just imagine that our sins will not be reckoned against us, if we embrace the blessing by faith. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Conversations about sin are pretty unpopular. Even if people believe that sin exists, many people appear have their own definition. Before we can embrace the blessing that the Lord wants to provide for us, we must come to grips with the reality of sin. Evil does exist in our world, and we are tempted to step into sin and allow our selfish desires to lead us in a particular direction. When we begin aiming at the wrong target for our lives, we end up on a trajectory that takes us far from the Lord, and justifying sin. It happens quickly and easily. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Shooting at a new target happens so easily, and sometimes we don't even realize what is happening. That promotion at work begins to look very appealing, and it will take us to a new place in life. We might be able to move to a new community and have a larger home with many amenities which our children “really need” to enjoy life. Sure, there’s no church close-by, and there’s no youth group, children’s ministry or Christian community to provide a network of spiritual support for the family, but it’s a great neighborhood. We convince ourselves that we will drive to our church every Sunday, even thought it’s quite a distance, but eventually, it just becomes too difficult. The family would enjoy sleeping in on Sundays and church is too far away for the children to get involved in any activities. However, we are making really good money and so we plan extravagant vacations with the children. Along the way we begin to add in some social drinking because that’s what everyone in the community is doing. There are book clubs and game nights to enjoy, all accompanied by a large stash of alcohol. As the evenings wear on the conversations become a bit looser and the simple flirtations begin leading toward another target. And on it goes as the original target of knowing Christ becomes a distant reality. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many of these people will say they are “Christians” — but in many ways they are no longer embracing the “blessing.” Defining sin has become a real challenge and there is little gratitude for the grace of the cross. Instead, without knowing it, a works faith has developed; one that involves boasting in the few humanitarian projects that are supported financially, or the occasional day of volunteering. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What Paul is talking about here is serious business, and I think it’s time for us to get back to the serious business of following Christ. There is no boasting in our “success” or the things of this world that we may embrace. We were never promised a prosperity gospel. Instead, we are to embrace the blessing that we receive through Christ. This is why Paul would eventually say “May I never<b> </b>boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 3:14, NRSV). Truly embracing the blessing will cost us everything, but will give us more than we could ever imagine in return. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, I want to join Paul in boasting in you alone. That’s not always easy, so please, help me to embrace your blessing and keep my eyes on the target — you! Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5614381160733507357.post-83748965341752539712022-12-28T07:56:00.001-08:002022-12-28T07:56:48.029-08:00 Relational and Real<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEYWl5cwH0QtBHQxPYLoaISKcjFISq8_9Yhoyi3HYTdYzGlXdnygf8a0cR7kU1vMobz_MorrIAiwDyRrtMuRnR6yrrpLg5zeyTsBbrofOmbSii-ClOflQH9xlauB8o3mubvUtU97zxZ7TaTAVGbJ0H_OHqyAkLcn599K3gzgrzZRwFUWwS7nXAmY5/s3597/IMG_1861.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1854" data-original-width="3597" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEYWl5cwH0QtBHQxPYLoaISKcjFISq8_9Yhoyi3HYTdYzGlXdnygf8a0cR7kU1vMobz_MorrIAiwDyRrtMuRnR6yrrpLg5zeyTsBbrofOmbSii-ClOflQH9xlauB8o3mubvUtU97zxZ7TaTAVGbJ0H_OHqyAkLcn599K3gzgrzZRwFUWwS7nXAmY5/s320/IMG_1861.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian reformers during a season of revival. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scripture:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rom. 3:27</b> Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. <b><sup>28</sup></b> For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. <b><sup>29</sup></b> Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, <b><sup>30</sup></b> since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. <b><sup>31</sup></b> Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observation:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Jews were exceedingly skilled at boasting about their faith. They wanted their fellow Jews, as well as the heathen Gentiles to see how spiritual they were. Their lives were consumed by the law. Paul was now saying that one was no longer to boast about following God’s law, but where did that leave them? He switches into an entirely new conversation around righteousness, or justification by faith. This was the first real introduction into this concept and one can imagine that it was very difficult for the Jews to understand. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout the last five to six centuries the church has often been divided over the debate of what actually happens in this moment in relation to grace and holiness. The Protestant ethic focuses on grace, while the Catholic emphasizes holiness (Cell 1935, 347). The Wesleyan understanding becomes a synthesis of both, where a relative change occurs because of justification, that is humanity is now in a new relationship with God, and this new relationship becomes foundational for real change found in sanctification, which is to be renewed, or restored in the image of God. The both-and of relational and real change is God’s ultimate goal in salvation. This occurs because of the grace of God, to which we respond by faith. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are left with these overall thoughts from the passage. If we are justified by faith, then there is no boasting; this righteousness by faith is for all people, Jew and Gentile alike; and justification by faith actually upholds the law. (NBBC) Matthew Henry says, “believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth” (Abridged Commentary). </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Application:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These passages, written by Paul, upended the world. The gap between Jew and Gentile was destroyed in Christ and this began a new Christian movement that eventually enveloped the entire Roman Empire. Later, when Martin Luther embraced this language of “justification by faith” it ignited an entirely new movement of Christianity throughout the world, an evangelistic movement that moved far beyond the bounds of the influence of the old Roman Empire. God has used these words of Paul to spark revival, just when the world needed it most. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just maybe, we are in another one of those seasons where we need a new spark of revival. Could these words have an impact upon us and society today? I believe that they could, but only through the power of the Holy Spirit to ignite anew our imaginations for the incomprehensible work of Christ in our lives. This is God reaching out to humanity to fulfill the law. Christ is the revelation of the law at work and he becomes our model for life. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The two aspects of this justification by faith, the relational and the real have the ability to kindle a new fire of faith within the Christian community, and this is where I believe it needs to begin. It’s become far too easy to be like the Jews who were following the law. We may not want to admit it but Christians today have fallen into a cultural Christianity that has adopted certain morals and practices that we say reflect our relationship with Christ, but do they? In other words, are we more committed to the morals and practices than we are to Christ himself? This can easily lend itself to “boasting.” We brag that we are not as bad as “those people.” Yet, I’m afraid that if Paul were to shine a spotlight on us, he might just find things that we don’t want to have revealed. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are in desperate need of a relational change in our lives. In a previous post I wrote about shooting at the wrong target — not just missing the mark. The relational change draws us back to the right target. Jesus Christ is to be the target for our lives and moving toward him only happens when we are in a right relationship with him. There is the need for us to respond to God’s redemptive grace through faith. In a materialistic world this is difficult, because our world wants to be able to explain away absolutely everything by way of that which we see, touch, and feel — the material. This is when “science” becomes king (only the more that science learns, the more it reveals what it didn’t know). Even science can be consecrated in service to God, and point to the revelation of God in all of the intricate details of creation, should those practicing desire to embrace faith. Faith requires us to put our trust in Christ who is not material. Faith requires us to believe that Jesus entered history to bring us salvation. Faith requires us to believe that there is a loving God and creator of all things. Can we embrace Jesus through faith? If so, then we can experience a relational change — a change of direction for our lives — that Is now focused on Christ. </span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once we experience that relational change, real change begins. Here, the work of sanctification begins in the heart and life of the believer — one who is restored in the image of God. This is the journey of grace that leads us more and more into Christlikeness. The world is attracted to Jesus — but not always the church. This is why this kind of revival would be transformational in our world today because a church filled with Christlike believers would become light for a darkened world. The church should not just be filled with those who can “boast” of their activities, but of those who have experienced relational and real change, and therefore represent Christ in all that they do, inside and outside of its walls. The deep need of our world today is to once again experience both the relational and real aspects of justification by faith.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer:</span></b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, illumine the hearts and minds of those who call themselves your followers to live into your grace. Help me to live out the relational and real change so that I may reflect you to the world. Amen. </span></p>Carla Sunberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17580403702359173075noreply@blogger.com0